Tesco eyes Ethiopian market

British multinational grocery retailer Tesco is in negotiations with the Ethiopian government with a view to begin trading in Ethiopia.

It is reported that Ethiopian government representatives began negotiations with the giant supermarket chain last year, following a dispute between the government and local traders over an unprecedented rise in the price of supermarket goods.

The response taken by the government against the Ethiopian wholesalers included inviting foreign retailers into the market. In addition to Tesco, the American company Walmart is also believed to be in the final stages of negotiations.

Ethiopia’s inflation levels, which have been rising in recent years, have shown signs of slowing down according to the latest report by the Ethiopian Central Statistics Agency, which attributed the decline in part to the fall in food prices in March.

In terms of revenue, Tesco is the third-largest retailer in the world after Walmart and France’s Carrefour, and it operates in 14 countries in Asia, Europe and the USA. However the British chain’s profits have taken a serious knock recently. It is therefore trying to find new outlets and the supermarket sector in Africa is in the early stages of development.