Spar has entered Ghana, taking over Citydia’s network of 17 stores and partnering with EcoDi (Economic Distribution Company Ghana), which launched the Citydia chain in the country in 2015.

The launch will see EcoDi convert 17 existing Citydia supermarkets in and around the capital city Accra to Spar. Unlike in Nigeria, where partner Artee Group has opened large format supermarkets and hypermarkets, in Ghana the Spar brand will initially be launched on neighbourhood stores.

Spar now operates in 10 countries in Africa, representing 16% of the franchise’s global turnover. The majority of sales of Spar’s revenues come from South Africa, which has more than 850 stores in South Africa alone. Spar South Africa also runs the Spar franchise in  Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Nambia, Swaziland, Lesotho (and operates stores in Ireland, Australia and Poland).

The conversion of Citydia stores marks another exit for the Spanish brand, which still operates in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea (Conakry) but saw its network in Senegal taken over by Auchan in 2018.

The expansion also comes as Spar’s major competitor across Africa, Shoprite, is looking to exit some of its underperforming markets. By contrast to Shoprite, the Spar franchise model puts a local partner at the helm of its operations.

Shoprite’s network in Ghana is small – just seven (large) supermarkets. Although Ghana is not typically flagged as an underperforming country market suffering currency issues, it is notable that Shoprite’s expansion in the country has been slow. It is also notable that fellow South African retailer Pick n Pay, which has signed up to several tenancies in Accra malls, has not opened a store yet in the country.

The key question is whether EcoDi takes on Shoprite directly and opens larger stores. There is still plenty of growth in the Ghanaian market – the largest chain, Melcom, is part supermarket and part department store and its grocery aisles are poorly managed and largely unappealing.