Founders of Nigeria’s Largest Supermarket Chains Drive Retail Expansion
Indigenous and franchise-backed retail groups in Nigeria are expanding their store networks and diversifying operations, signaling a maturing consumer market capable of withstanding currency volatility and inflation.
Nigeria’s retail sector is seeing accelerated expansion from its leading supermarket operators, who are growing their physical footprints and diversifying revenue streams despite persistent macroeconomic pressures. Founders of the country’s largest chains are actively scaling operations across multiple states and international borders.
This growth trajectory is significant for investors as it demonstrates the resilience of organized retail in Africa’s most populous nation. These businesses have navigated currency volatility, rising inflation, and shifting consumer preferences while continuing to create jobs and support local supply chains.
Haresh Keswani’s Artee Group, which operates 16 SPAR Nigeria stores, exemplifies this strategic diversification. Since securing the SPAR International master franchise, the group has expanded into shopping mall development, opening its first facility in Port Harcourt in 2014, and partnered with Dubai-based Landmark Group to introduce new lifestyle brands.
Homegrown operators are matching this pace of development. FoodCo, founded by Sola Sun-Basorun in 1982 with a N5,000 bank loan, now runs 22 outlets across Oyo, Lagos, and Ogun states. After rebuilding from a single surviving store in the early 2000s, the company transitioned executive leadership to CEO Ade Sun-Basorun in 2020 and earned recognition from the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies.
Similarly, Dr. Mark Akhabue has expanded Jendol Superstores to 16 locations since launching in Lagos in November 2016 alongside his wife, Oluwakemi Akhabue. Leveraging a prior career in aviation and oil sector finance, Akhabue has branched the business into petroleum marketing. Prince Ebeano, founded by Sunday Egede and David Ojei, operates nine stores and executed an international expansion into Ontario, Canada, in December 2021.
Financial expertise remains a common thread among these retail operators. Sir Robert O. Anwatu, a trained accountant with prior experience at Barclays Bank, built his 10-store Roban Stores chain from a 1985 gift shop into a diversified retail and hospitality group. Meanwhile, Tayo Amusan chairs Ketron Investment Limited, the entity behind the 26-store ShopRite network.
