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Multinational retailers exit Tanzania over profits

Monday October 09 2017
Choppies

Choppies of Botswana has shops in Dar es Salaam. Picture: File

By APOLINARI TAIRO

Tanzania is becoming an unfavourable destination for multinational retailers due to low profitability.

Riding on incentives extended to foreign investors, multinational supermarket chains opened businesses in Tanzania, but in the past 15 years most of them have exited the market.

Since 1999, six multinational supermarkets have come into Tanzania and three closed down or sold their stake.

Score Supermarket of South Africa opened its first supermarket in Tanzania in 2000 but later sold it to another South African retail chain, Shoprite.

Kenya’s Uchumi closed down about two years ago.

Game is the latest entrant from South Africa. The other is Choppies of Botswana, with shops in Dar es Salaam.

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Shoprite acquired Score Supermarket’s operations in Tanzania in 2001, comprising three supermarkets and a small distribution centre. It sold its stake to Nakumatt in 2014.

Poor shopping culture

The low profitability has been attributed to a poor shopping culture among Tanzanians.

Hamphrey Moshi, an economist and researcher from the University of Dar es Salaam told The EastAfrican that the country is not as attractive to supermarket chains because the economy is smaller compared with that of countries like Kenya and South Africa.

Prof Moshi noted that all big supermarkets in the country were foreign-owned companies and were selling imported products.

“Tanzania needs local industries to produce products to sell in supermarkets. This would increase profits for these retailers,” he said.

Before closing its business in Tanzania, Uchumi issued a statement saying its outlets in Uganda and Tanzania made up only 4.75 per cent of its operations, yet accounted for over 25 per cent of its operating costs.

Since taking over from Shoprite, Nakumatt which is now the biggest supermarket in Tanzania, operates two branches in Dar es Salaam, one in Arusha and another in Moshi.

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