South Africa retail giant eyes major Massmart expansion in Kenya

Massmart Holdings Ltd , one of South Africa retailers eyes Kenya in its expansion plans dubbed ‘Grow Africa” between 2019 and 2021.

The retailer made the announcement on Thursday after reporting reported a 31.7% fall in full-year earnings for the period ending 30 December 2018.

Massmart currently has 47 stores in 12 African countries.

In Kenya, the retailer trades as The Game Stores says it will open four more stores by 2021, with its building materials and appliances chain-Builders Warehouse, set to open its doors in Nairobi this October.

Massmart opened its flagship Game store in Nairobi in 2016.

“Zambia and East Africa are interesting to us because they’re not totally dependent on mineral resources like West Africa is,” Group Chief Executive Guy Hayward as quoted by Reuters. “Kenya and Zambia have quite strong tourism industries and little bit of local industries so the economic play there is a bit more robust.”

Massmart Holdings Limited is a South African firm that owns local brands such as Game, Makro, Builder’s Warehouse and CBW.  Massmart is 52.4% owned by American multinational retail company Walmart.