Dubai-based Majid Al-Futtaim (MFA), the exclusive holder of Carrefour’s franchise in Kenya, has appointed a new country manager amid its expansion quest in East Africa.
Christophe Orcet, who has previously served as the head of operations and commercial for the MAF Carrefour in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took over from Franck Moreau on March 1, 2023.
Mr Moreau has retired from the company after 23 years of serving in different capacities.
The changes at the corner office at Carrefour Kenya come as the retailer seeks to open more outlets in Kenya and Uganda where it operates in East Africa.
“Mr Orcet assumed his new role on 1st March 2023 and will oversee operations of Carrefour in East Africa,” said the firm in a response to Business Daily queries on Friday.
“Mr Moreau tendered his resignation in October 2022 and worked hand in hand over the past 5 months with the company and Christophe Orcet to ensure a smooth transition.”
Carrefour has been on an aggressive expansion plan in the East African market in the last few years.
Besides Kenya, it has operations in Uganda and there are no clear indications at the moment whether it will spread its wings beyond these two markets in East Africa soon.
In Kenya, Carrefour competes with rivals such as Naivas and Quickmart -which has also been on an expansion trail fuelled by private equity investors.
Carrefour currently has 19 branches in Kenya, and 7 branches in Uganda. Naivas has over 80 branches while QuickMart has 56 branches spread across Kenya.
Carrefour Kenya’s sales surged 25.8 percent to Sh32.9 billion (one billion Emirati dirham) in 2021 as it opened more branches and attracted more customers to its stores concentrated in Nairobi.
Majid Al Futtaim, the exclusive holder of Carrefour’s franchise in Kenya, said the revenue had increased from Sh26.2 billion (848 million dirham) recorded the year before.
The retailer opened its first store in Kenya in 2016 and is currently growing online shopping.
The supermarket operator’s sales growth bucks the trend of poor performance by its foreign peers that have either recently exited the Kenyan market or reduced their footprint, citing losses.
Those that closed shop in recent years include Botswana’s Choppies and South Africa’s Shoprite and Massmart.
