Having finally launched its first supermarket in Uganda – what it calls a major milestone – Majid Al Futtaim has now announced plans for its second store in the country, a 3,400m² outlet at Kampala’s Metroplex Mall.

Majid al Futtaim has now launched its first Carrefour store in Uganda – a 2,800m² hypermarket in Kampala’s Oasis Mall, once home to Kenyan supermarket chain Nakumatt (which had nine stores in Uganda before exiting). The store was originally slated to open in Q1 2019: Majid al Futtaim has a good track record of taking over Nakumatt space and converting it quickly. However, the conversion process in Uganda has taken somewhat longer.

The company has also announced its second site in Uganda: at Kampala’s redeveloped Metroplex Mall. The Metroplex Mall outlet is set to open in 2020 and have 3,400m² of retail space. The mall, in Kampala’s Naalya township, was sold to Gateway Delta, a Mauritius based company, in May 2019. It was previously home to Shoprite (2011-2015), and then Nakumatt.

Majid al Futtaim will be banking on the construction of the new access road from the Northern Bypass highway to deliver footfall. It also spells bad news for local supermarket chains Quality Supermarkets and Capital Shoppers, both of whom have stores off the highway nearby.

As in Kenya, Majid al Futtaim will go up against Shoprite, which has five stores in Uganda (four in Kampala, one in Entebbe). Shoprite has actually been present in Uganda since 2000 – it was one of the very first markets the South African retailer entered. Having closed its Metroplex store, Shoprite had only two stores in Uganda in early 2018. It has since taken up three former Nakumatt stores: in Acacia Mall in Kamwokya, Village Mall at Bugolobi (both Kampala) and Victoria Mall in Entebbe.