Former Steinhoff chairman Christo Wiese is interviewed at his home in Clifton, Cape Town, South Africa, on April 28, 2018. (Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Edrea du Toit)
South African billionaire Christo Wiese said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that Nigeria's growing and growing population is impossible for businesses to ignore and the recent exodus from the West African nation will not last long. Ta.
“How do you ignore an economy like this?” said the former chairman of Shoprite, the continent’s largest grocer, which exited Nigeria in 2021.
“Sooner or later, the big players are going to come back in.”
In December, Procter & Gamble also pulled out of Nigeria, and in recent months at least three other global conglomerates have announced they will leave Africa's most populous and second-largest economy.
Many African countries, such as Nigeria, have developed as single-commodity economies, so when the price of that commodity falls, the currency and consumer spending suffer, making it difficult for foreign investors to make a profit.
“I think most foreign investors, including South African investors, have an attitude that it's too early to start when it comes to Nigeria,” Wiese said. “We have to wait until things calm down, until the economy develops further and until the government adopts the right policies.”