Mozambique's first Pick n Pay store due to open

Africa’s second-largest food retailer, Pick n Pay, announced on Thursday that it was opening its first store in Mozambique, located in Maputo.

The Maputo store is about 3 500 square metres and will include a clothing and liquor offering.

Pick n Pay’s head of group enterprises, Dallas Langman, said: “The Mozambique market offers good opportunities to present a high-quality offering from Pick n Pay.

“Our stores will present an appealing array of products to Maputo residents which they may not have encountered before, offering substantial competition to other retailers in the Mozambican market,” continued Langman.

Pick n Pay signed a franchise territorial agreement with retail franchising group Retail Masters in Mozambique, providing it with the essential benefit of expert insights into the local market.

The new store has already employed 250 Mozambican citizens and Langman said the group aimed to support local suppliers as much as possible.

Pick n Pay’s expansion into Mozambique follows the opening of its second outlet in Zambia, in March.

The group’s strategy of expanding into Africa has mainly been through partnering with locals or selling franchises to locals. But the company will also develop corporate-owned stores.

Pick n Pay aims to open five more stores in Zambia over the next four years and will open another two stores this year in Mozambique.—I-Net Bridge