Shoprite Set to permanently Close Kenyan Outlets after a woeful 2020 Performance

Shoprite Kenya, which is majority-owned by Cape Town-based Shoprite Holdings Ltd, is set to shut down in January 2021. This comes after months of speculations, cemented by an abysmal 2020 financial performance. Business Elites Africa understands that Shoprite Kenya suffered a loss after tax of  Sh3.2 billion as at half-year 2020.

The retailer had already shut down four outlets across Kenya, including its branches at the City Mall Branch in Nyali, Westgate Mall, Garden City, and other places.

Countless number of workers were also laid off earlier this year, even as the last remaining ones were recently given redundancy letters which said in parts that “endeavors to continue trading in Kenya is no longer viable. The company suffered losses in the amount of Sh3.239 billion for the 2019/20 financial period. In line with the company’s decision to exit the Kenyan market, it intends to permanently close the home office. It is contemplated that the proposed closure will cause employees at the said office to be declared redundant.”

Business Daily Africa also reported earlier today that Shoprite had informed the Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers that it will be shutting its head office in January. The company has been operated in Kenya for two years, grappling with financial difficulties the whole time.

Shoprite’s group Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Engelbrecht, was recently quoted to have said that the Kenyan operation’s underperformance was much to the displeasure of investors. The underperformance worsened amid COVID-19 and rising competition posed by some local retailers, among them Naivas, Quickmart, and Carrefour.

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Meanwhile, Kenya is not the only African country where Shoprite Holdings has been struggling. The leading retail group, which has a reported 2, 300 stores across Africa, has been steadily streamlining its operations by shutting down most of these stores. In August last year, the company divested its Nigerian operation, citing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.