What does the future hold for Carrefour in Uganda?
Moses Kaketo
Over 10 years of experience in Brand Visibility, Print & Digital Journalism, Content Development and Distribution
By Moses Kaketo
Carrefour’s entrance into Uganda benefited from the failure of hitherto dominant supermarket chains such as Shoprite, Tusk’s, Nakumatt, and Uchumi. Carrefour rushed in to occupy the retail spaces and market share.
I asked a few distinguished business experts for their opinions on the new player in Uganda's retail chain sector a few months after they were unveiled.
They all concurred that Uganda would present difficulties for the Carrefour model. Carrefour is a multinational company based in France.
It appears that the analysts were foresighted. Five years later, the market does not see the Carrefour brand favorably. In other words, it might not be expanding as quickly as one might anticipate.
It is said that Cash[money) is King and Strategy is Queen. We concur, the Queen is missing and that’s why Carrefour ‘Kingdom’ in Uganda is rickety. Majid Al Futtaim, an Emirati billionaire, owns the exclusive rights to operate Carrefour in Uganda.
Nakumatt, once East Africa’s largest retail chain, with its tagline, “You Need It, We’ve Got It.” The company collapsed due to a misalignment of culture and strategy. So was Kenya's Uchumi and South Africa's Shoprite. We agree, no brand is too big to fail in Uganda.
On 5th February 2025, Journalist Gabriel Buule posted about his encounter with a Carrefour store on his X account a month ago.
?Gabriel Buule on X: "Dear @CarrefourUG , I don't think it's right for a person to pay for a bag to carry food bought from your store. If you continue like this, you won't survive after your tax holiday. https://t.co/K5OycH5G1s" / X
His post received an overwhelming number of [negative] comments. The comments on Buule's piece were also a wake-up call for any genuine businessperson. There's a problem. Something has to be fixed, done.
This forced me to dig deeper. One can agree that unlike the past retail chain ?brands, Shoprite (which had become a household brand), Tuskys, Uchumi, Nakumatt, and Carrefour, which have to a larger part failed to match the above brands—so what could be the problem?
Carrefour is a respected brand in Europe. Analysts agree that the Carrefour franchise owners in Uganda thought they would replicate the model in Uganda. However, it is critical to bear in mind the unique social, cultural, etc., ideologies of people in a different nation.
The market in Uganda is distinct. For instance, Carrefour sells everything they believe Ugandans would want to purchase, despite the fact that Ugandans have preferences for particular products. a glaring mismatch in the buyer-seller relationship.
It is true, Carrefour is a strong global brand. But that does not mean it can decide for the customers. Yes, it could be a strong brand, but not in Uganda. When you drive a Ross Rossie [possibly the most expensive car in the world], many Ugandans will probably see it as any other car. The point here is the customer is the king—you exist because of him
Because they understand their clients, local supermarket brands are succeeding. For example, Capital shoppers, Mega Standard, for example, know what Ugandans want to buy at any point. For example, during school opening times, if you visit these supermarkets, you will notice they have all you need for your child returning to school
Suppliers neglected
Suppliers are essential to the long-term viability of the retail chain industry. The merchants supply on credit and come for payments later. We understand Carrefour takes longer than usual to pay her suppliers. There was a time when Carrefour lacked some items. Reason? The suppliers were not being paid, and they chose to stop supplying them. Some distributors of regional and global brands stopped giving them goods and instead asked their bosses to supply them directly—reason: delayed payments. Carrefour needs to have tea with former owners of Nakumatt. it is said, Nakumatt? Employees were underpaid, and suppliers were neglected. The company collapsed, leaving a wake of unpaid debts.
The success of Capital Shops is ascribed to the importance it places on each stakeholder—they cherish their clients, their employees, and most importantly, their suppliers. The supermarket is always supplied because of this.
Staff complain of mistreatment
Many businesses invest in customer satisfaction but neglect to do the same for their internal customers, or staff. This is a true catastrophe. We are aware that some senior supervisors at Carrefour are known to occasionally abuse and threaten employees. - Employees don't feel unsafe at work. They have allegedly turned to shady transactions.
Some Carrefour staff have also resorted to fraudulent schemes. They connive with customers to defraud the company. ‘’ Staff, for example, remove the stickers for some items that say costs 300,000 and put a price tag of, say, 50,000. They then ask the customer to wait for their heavily ‘discounted’ items in the parking yard. This could be the tip of the iceberg. Such practices usually happen when you don’t value internal customers.
Did Carrefour take anything away from the errors made by other retail companies that used to operate in Uganda? Perhaps, perhaps not.
Last word
Analysts agree that companies don’t fail because their values are misaligned; they fail because leaders pretend culture can be dictated from the top. That said, we agree the opportunity for supermarkets is for the local brands. We have seen big regional and continental retail supply chains—like Shoprite, Metro Cash and Carry, Nakumatt, Uchumi, and Tuskys —come and go. Local brands, on the other hand, have not only survived but are expanding. They knew the market, therefore it's hardly magic.
The writer is Content Creator, Marketing and distribution expert. He can be reached via WhatsApp +256782507579
also read: Why Ugandans ‘rejected’ Coca-Cola’s Fuze Tea