Lagardère Travel Retail has won a 10 year contract for the 1,000m² duty free concession at Senegal’s new Blaise Diagne International Airport, outside Dakar.
Lagardère has been selected to run the duty free retail concession at the new Blaise Diagne International Airport, Dakar’s new international airport. The new concession is due to open on the 7th December 2017. Lagardère Travel Retail has stores in 33 countries, up from 31 in early 2016.
The new Dakar Airport operation will be its first in Africa. However, the Lagardère group owns media and publishing businesses in Senegal (Vibe Radio, Active Radio International), Côte d’Ivoire (Vibe Radio, Active Radio International, Nouvelles Editions Ivoiriennes) and South Africa.
Lagardère Travel Retail runs more than 60 proprietary and franchised retail and foodservice brands, which are typically tailored towards its local audience. Its own brands include the Relay bookshop chain and So! Coffee café chain. It is the third largest duty free retail operator globally after Dufry and Lotte Duty Free.
Market leader Dufry has operations in Cape Verde, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Lotte Duty Free (#2) and DFS (#3) both focus on Asian markets while Heinemann (#5) mainly focuses on European markets.
The duty free retail market in Africa is relatively small: it currently accounts for less than 2% market share by value. However, the rapid uptake of air travel across sub Saharan Africa and the growth of airline hubs in countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria and Togo signals a major change in the air travel landscape. This change is being matched by a suite of new international airports in cities such as Addis Ababa, Dakar, Kigali and Luanda major renovations/expansions in cities including Abidjan, Accra and Nairobi.
