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The fall of Edgars makes for very interesting case study
When it was announced that Edgars would close, Zambians appeared to mourn it more than Zampost that they actually own
Many tried to link it to Zambia’s current economic challenges and said it was proof that we’re in trouble. I had a different perspective. I noticed that they didn’t look for a local partner, put it up for sale or any other visible efforts to keep it going, they just closed
The conclusion many reached that Edgars was closing because of the Z economy was misguided. Their troubles originated in SA, they had been struggling for a while. For me it shows that people are still believe that SA companies know what’s best
In Nigeria, arguably SA’s strongest company, Shoprite realized they couldn’t win and rather than close the company, they decided to put it up for sale https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/03/africa/shoprite-nigeria-exit-intl/index.html
In Zambia, when Spar realized that they couldn’t compete, they just closed. No announcement of a sale, notice the difference. https://diggers.news/business/2020/02/06/spar-announces-arcades-outlet-closure/
This is Zambia’s GDP from 1984 to 2021. It shows near exponential growth. Reason has it that as GDP increases, so do opportunities for businesses. Why then do large SA headquartered retailers decide to close shop?
My view is that they are of the mistaken belief that if they can’t make it work, neither can Zambians
