Written by Tiisetso Motsoeneng | From Reuters

Woolworths, South Africa’s second-biggest retailer by value, aims to open 15 stores in sub-Saharan Africa, including in Kenya, Mauritius and Namibia, in two to three years, a senior company official said on Thursday.

Speaking at a Reuters Africa Investment Summit in Johannesburg, the company’s head of international operations, Paula Disberry, said expansion into the fast-growing continent could be faster if there were more shopping malls.

The chain has 65 African stores outside South Africa in 11 countries, including Botswana, Mauritius, Kenya and Ghana.

“The biggest challenge we see is finding good shopping malls. I’d love to have 650 stores rather than 65 stores but the locations simply don’t exist and that’s our biggest inhibiter,” Disberry said.

“Even in the most developed markets like Kenya, for example, formal retail is still only 40 percent of the retail market place.”

Property developers are struggling to keep pace with growing demand for malls in lucrative markets such as Nigeria, forcing grocer Shoprite and rival Massmart to build their own standalone stores.

Disberry said Woolworths was still very much committed to growing in sub-Saharan Africa after pulling the plug on its Nigerian business last year and announcing a $2 billion Australian expansion this week.

Read more at Reuters