The Country Director for Chastex Consult, Ini Archibong, in a telephone conversation with Vanguard, said: “Shoprite is not leaving Nigeria.

“We have only just opened to Nigerian investors which we have also been talking to just before now. We are not leaving, who leaves over a $30billion investment and close shop? It doesn’t sound right.

“We only gave this opportunity to Nigeria investors to come in and also help drive our expansion plan in Nigeria. So we are not leaving. “I have tried to say this to many people as I can. There should be no panic at all and all of that. There is no truth in that report.”

Recall that reports have been circulating that the retail outlet has started a formal process to consider the potential sale of all or a majority of stake in its supermarkets in Nigeria.

The report said the retailer had struggled in the Nigeria market after some South African owned retailer shops exited the Nigeria market.

The report further stated that Shoprite results for the year do not reflect any of their operations in Nigeria as it will be classified as a discontinued operation.

The report also said international markets excluding Nigeria contributed 11.6 per cent to the group sales and reported 1.4 per cent decline in sales from 2018.

South African operations contributed 78 per cent of the overall sales and saw 8.7 per cent rise for the years.

The report went further to say that as a result of the lockdown, customers’ visits declined 7.4 per cent but the average basket spends increased by 18.4 per cent.

As a result Nigerians has expressed their worry through the social media with concern that many may lose their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic as Shoprite plans exit from the country.

InsideOjodu had ealier reported that the South African company, Shoprite Holdings Limited with hundreds of outlets in Nigeria and workers announced plans to discontinue its operations in Nigeria.

The company stated this in its “Operational and Voluntary Trading Update” released on Monday, adding that the decision was due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below are some of the tweets by Nigerians:

@Dammiedammie35 “ So Shoprite is leaving Nigeria, thousands of people will be without jobs now, other thousands depending on those people’s incomes, my new neighbor works with Shoprite in Ibadan and he has three kids, his wife is a private school teacher and haven’t worked in a while, so many people like that.”

Sirleodasilva “ No economic plans, just vibes, copy and paste from other countries. This is what happens when the best minds are not the ones leading your country. The economic ignorance will kill businesses or their policies will do so. I just hope Shoprite jobs will not be all lost.”

@Olisinho_ “ The business is not closing down, another consortium will buy it and continue business but probably some jobs might be lost as there would be downsizing to hasten profitability and getting back on the right track.”

@Morris_Monye “ Cost of doing business is so high in Nigeria. You provide your own power, your own water etc. Costs just keeps getting higher and higher.

“The unfortunate thing about this Shoprite debacle is the huge loss to staff, contractors and supplier. An unfortunate domino effect.”

@Biyitheplug “ As Shoprite is leaving Nigeria, a lot of Shoprite workers will remain unemployed, most won’t get a new job anytime soon, how will a married man feed his family? Only the strong hearted survives in this country to be honest.”

@Wiseeyeq “ Shoprite is leaving Nigeria because Nigerians now have less disposable income to spend at their outlets than before. Poverty is creeping on us all while our Supreme Leader idles and his minions demand we “live within our means”

@More_jnr “ Power is the major problem, diesel is so expensive and Shops like Shoprite has to run on Generator all through.It is very expensive.”

@Ayemojubar “ Shoprite plans to discontinue operations in Nigeria. Well this sounds good for locals but a negative scorecard that will discourage foreign investments in this country.

The company, however is yet to announce when this decision to leave Nigeria will take place.

According to the company’s Operational and voluntary trading update (52 weeks ended 28 June 2020) obtained by Nigeria Today, the megastore company with presence in most Nigerian cities, said: “the Board has decided to initiate a formal process to consider the potential sale of all, or a majority stake, in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shoprite International Limited”.

The decision was taken “following approaches from various potential investors and in line with our re-evaluation of the Group’s operating model in Nigeria,” the update added.

“As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as a discontinued operation when Shoprite reports its results for the year. Any further updates will be provided to the market at the appropriate time,” the update added.

Details later…

The statement reads “The retailer is highly concerned about the acts of xenophobic violence against foreign nationals that sporadically flare up and the resultant rhetoric of intolerance that is levelled against foreigners and the platform this creates for criminals to exploit it. As a company with deep African roots who employs thousands of African nationals and works to bring affordable prices to consumers in 15 countries on the continent, we would like to see an end to xenophobia across the continent. Several stores in South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia are today unable to open due to protest action and extensive damage has been done to several supermarkets over the past 24 hours, impacting the lives of millions of law abiding people. We remain committed to engage with Government, industry and consumer groups so that decisive action is taken against those involved in violent crimes and intimidation against foreign nationals as well as to convey our strong position against xenophobia,”