South African discounter Massmart, a subsidiary of Walmart, is looking to cut 1,800 jobs in its bid to get its performance back on track. Meanwhile in West Africa, CFAO’s Supeco (Carrefour) discounter franchise is seeing sales take off in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Massmart has started talks with unions in South Africa as it looks to cut 1,800 jobs – 3% of its workforce – in its Game stores. Massmart is trying to implement a new operating model at Game after its “indifferent performance in the 2019 financial year” and the financial hit it has taken during the COVID-19 lockdown, when it lost R4.6bn ($272.6m) in revenues during nine weeks. Massmart, which shed CEO Guy Hayward in 2019, is under pressure to transform its operations.

In February new CEO Mitchell Slape said Game, which is struggling to establish its price leadership credentials against rival Shoprite, was going back to its basics and would decommission the fresh and frozen food category and introduce basic apparel including T-shirts to boost sustainability.

In April, Massmart closed 23 of its Dion-Wired stores, because the company believes they cannot be brought to sustainable profitability.

Meanwhile in West Africa, CFAO is reporting explosive sales growth. The company operates the Carrefour franchise in West Africa and launched its three Supeco stores in Dakar in 2019, followed by a fourth store in Abidjan in early 2020. According to General Manager Jean-Christophe Brindeau, monthly turnover in its Supeco stores is up 80% since March.

CFAO is planning additional stores in Abidjan (January 2021) and Douala, Cameroon (March 2021). Previously it has said that it planned to open in Cameroon in 2020 and to have 8-10 stores in West Africa in 2020.