MAF sees Kenyan Carrefour sales soar and eyes new markets

UAE-based Carrefour franchisee Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) saw its Kenyan sales rise by 71% during 2018, to AED506 million (USD137.8 million). MAF currently operates seven stores (six hypermarkets and one supermarket) in Nairobi.
Nairobi’s eighth Carrefour store (another hypermarket) is due to open later this year in the premises formerly occupied by Nakumatt along the Uhuru Highway. Meanwhile, refurbishment work has been completed at its Village Market, Junction, and Thika Road Mall stores – more than doubling the sales area of each. MAF is also due to open its first Carrefour store in neighbouring Uganda this year.
Meanwhile, MAF’s Egyptian sales increased by 21.7%, to AED2.4 billion (USD658 million), in 2018. MAF currently has 39 Carrefour stores in Egypt and also owns the Mall of Egypt in Cairo, which has a GLA of 165,000m² and was one of only five malls in Africa to be awarded an AAA rating by Sagaci Research in 2018. Egypt is MAF’s fourth-largest market in terms of revenue, behind the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. MAF, which currently has operations in 16 African and Asian markets, earned total revenues of AED34.7 billion (USD9.4 billion) in 2018.
Speaking in an interview last week, Frank Moreau, MAF Retail country manager for Kenya and Uganda, said that it was planning to enter five more African markets during the next four years. He added that South Africa was under active consideration and that if it chose to enter that market, it might be via an acquisition.
If you want to read more, click here or here