Shoprite opens in Accra

Story: Boahene Asamoah

SHOPRITE, one of Africa’s largest food retailers, says it will source 20 per cent of its products from the local market to stimulate demand and the development of local products.
The company said its policy was to support local suppliers, nurture enterprises in Africa and offer products with the best quality at the lowest prices.
Speaking to a cross section of journalists at the weekend, the General Manager of Shoprite Ghana, Mr Johann Koegelenberg, said the company had responded to President Kufuor’s call for international business operators to invest in the country.
The company is expected to open its doors to the Ghanaian public on November 1, 2007.
Currently operating in 16 countries outside its South African base, Shoprite is located at the Accra shopping mall, a supermarket which offers over 13,000 products.
Mr Koegelenberg said the company was an African business firm, saying it was important for Africans to spearhead investments on the continent to ensure accelerated growth and job opportunities.
“We are part of the African renaissance that is why we are here,” he stated.
He said the company had plans to open more outlets in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi to ensure a wide presence in the country.
The general manager stated that the country needed a convenient environment suited for family shopping and also to offer the normal Ghanaian family quality good prices.
The company, which according to him employed 114 people including two expatriates, could increase its employee intake to about 160 people when operating at full capacity.
Conducting journalists round the premises of the company, Mr Koegelenberg said the 1,760 square metre supermarket had rooms for bakery, delicatessen and butchery with specialised fresh quality products and could stock about 8,000 groceries.
“One of the special features in the store is the fish counter which will offer a wide range of fresh fish and seafood sourced from the local industry,” Mr Koegelenberg stated.
Shoprite first entered the Ghanaian market in 2003 when it opened its first Usave Outlet in Accra. Since then, it was only a matter of time before the company would significantly increase its investments in the country.
Fire gutted parts of the premises of Shoprite in April this year, slowing down the opening of the shop.