South African retailer Shoprite opened one more store in Angola, in the Uíge province. The new outlet brings Shoprite’s network to a total of 31 stores and cements its position as one of the leading modern retailers in the country as it tries to catch up to domestic retailers.

Shoprite opened a new store in Angola, in the northern province of Uíge. The new store, which has 2,500 m² of retail space and includes 18 checkout points, has created 175 local jobs. This and Shoprite’s support for the local private sector was praised by the Uíge authorities during the opening ceremony of the store.

The outlet is also a milestone for the province’s and the city’s modern retail development as it is only the second outlet of its kind after the existing Nosso Super store. It also the first outlet by a foreigner retailer in Uíge. Angola is a grocery retail market significantly dominated by domestic actors and foreign retailers have had a hard time starting sustainable operations. Last year, Dutch retailer Spar quietly existed the country selling its retail space to domestic retailer Intermarket. Shoprite Angola has been operating since 2003 and it has grown steadily ever since, expanding its network by 2 stores a year, on average. However, in late 2017, the South African giant announced an ambitious $571 million investment plan for Angola that involved an expansion in, at least, 11 provinces, in the next few years. The new Uíge store marks the first store opened in the context of that investment plan.