Fifteen months after it was forced to close down, Shoprite has reopened its Circle Mall outlet in Nigeria’s capital city, Lagos as it closes another in the Maryland area of the city.
The Circle Mall was vandalized in October 2022 in the aftermath of the END SARS protests that engulfed the city. Major businesses across the metropolis were attacked and looted by armed mobs. Several images and video footage showed hundreds of looters breaking into the mall and carting away items from its dozens of stores, Shoprite being the largest of them. The damage done was estimated to be in the billions of naira. Governor Sanwoolu of Lagos then promised tax breaks to companies affected by the mob action.
However, the Chairman of the Persianas Investment Limited, Tayo Amusan revealed that the company has completed renovation and has reopened to serve the highbrow, high-density neighbourhood.
The Amusan led Persianas, which owns the Palms range of shopping malls across the country, acquired Shoprite’s Nigerian holdings in June 2021 after its board announced its intention to divest investment in several countries. The company closed its four Kenyan outlets in 2021. As Africa’s largest food retailer, Shoprite’s Nigerian subsidiary experienced import restrictions and forex fluctuations, thereby seeking out potential takeovers. Persianas through its subsidiary Ketron Investment Limited completed the takeover in June 2021.
Shoprite has twenty-five outlets in Nigeria and employs two thousand workers.
