The retail market in Kenya has been in a flux. The retail space became highly competitive after the merger of chains like Quick Mart and Tumaini. Meanwhile, players like Uchumi and Nakumatt started recording losses. Multinational supermarket chains like Carrefour, Shoprite and Game Stores also started opening outlets in recent years weakening the influence of indigenous players like Tuskys and Naivas.
Now, Botswana’s Choppies Supermarket has announced that it plans to exit the Kenyan market. Choppies has been struggling to grow its market share in this highly competitive retail market since it acquired Ukwala stores of Kenya for Sh1 billion in 2015. Choppies has 12 stores in Kenya. It also had announced plans to treble that number over the next three years before its business came under stress. its businesses in Tanzania and Mozambique are also facing challenges. In a shareholders meeting Wilfred Mpai, Choppies director, informed that its Zambia and Botswana operations were doing well, but South Africa North West business was ‘distressed and identified for disposal.”
Choppies operates more than 130 stores in its Botswana home market, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It acquired a 75 percent stake in Ukwala Supermarkets for Sh1 billion with the remaining shares held by the local shareholder — the Export Trading Group (ETG).ETG recently offered the Kenyan unit of Choppies a Sh600 million shareholders loan in a bailout to settle suppliers’ debts. To top it Choppies is also facing internal trouble after its CEO, Ramachandran Ottapathu, was suspended in May after being accused of malpractices. .TFG, a fashion retailer has also been performing poorly in the rest of Africa forcing the company to retreat back home. TFG is also contemplating whether it should continue trading in Kenya and Ghana
