Rolling with the punches in Nigeria
Challenges of business in Africa's biggest market can be beaten
Nigeria, as the biggest economy in Africa, held great promise as a large, lucrative market for global and South African companies with aspirations to expand on the continent, but it has become the bane of existence for many companies as they have faced infrastructure and currency issues and, in some cases, did not adjust their business models to suit local conditions.
In the past two decades SA-listed companies have entered the Nigerian market with hopes of making it big. But in recent years a number of them, especially in retail, have sold or shut down their operations in the country - for a variety of reasons though the key theme has been challenges in bringing goods in and out of the country, weak economic growth and difficulty in repatriating money. Telkom, Sun International, Truworths, Woolworths and, most recently, Tiger Brands, Mr Price and Shoprite, have exited Nigeria...
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