So, I was gisting with a fellow naija buddy of mine and he mentioned that walmart was currently building a store in Nigeria. I was like

Can anyone confirm that this is true? If true, I wonder, considering things like inadquate light and water supply, how they will be able to live up to their motto of "always (low prices)".

Anyway, can someone please confirm this for me? I'd appreciate it

Wall mart in Nigeria, Nahhh i doubt its only a North American thing

Not really o - they are in too:
china: http://www.wal-martchina.com/english/walmart/wminchina.htm

yea yea remeber now its in some other places, my bad but in Nigeria not too sure about that.

my2cents, they were asking about nigeria, not china

hmmm vichel

First off, I, not "they" started this thread, so I think I know what my question was. I don't think I am on any kind of medication to be talking crap, or at least I don't think I am

Back to the matter at hand: I asked if walmart was building in naija. Someone said it was a north american thing, to which I said not so, as they hv stores in china. The dude replied acknowledging his mistake. So far, so good, as far as mature conversations go.

Please scroll up, read all the posts and then reply, acknowledging your mistake.

Let's keep the mature conversation going. Sorry if I confused you in any way.

The ball is now officially in your court

I read in the businessday daily( www.businessdayonline.com) that Walmart and other big time retailers are eyeing the Tinapa Resort seriously. Most probably they are already building something there.

That'd be cool. If 'NEPA' messes up as usual, Walmart might have to start up their own power plant.

Yeah Zahy,

Kind of reminds me of that dude who opened a movie theater in lagos. He purpotedly runs 7 stand-by generators at a time. I wonder how he makes money.

Could anyone help answer this (in terms of price per ticket,etc)?

Thanks,

The guy with the movie theatre isn't that silverbird cinema?

Anyways this would be a good idea. Walmart in nigeria. It'll become Always high price. lol.

Hey no one has a concrete source yet?

i got ya my2cent my bad

The worlds biggest or second biggest company. Near 120million people walk thru their doors every week in the US alone. I think they are going to change the global retail landscape. They are already in Many Countries including China, Mexico, UK (Asda) and South Korea and i believe in Japan under a different name. If they came to Nigeria it might be a good thing. Calabar/Tinapa would make a lot of business sense. With the EPZ in Calabar, they can manufacture their goods and sell locally. I think it will be a good thing for walmart's shareholders, i will reserve judgment on it being good for Nigeria.

i will reserve judgment on it being good for Nigeria

Yeah, if I know Nigerians in Nigeria well, the minute it opens, they will all flock there in droves. Not only that, if a Nigerian opens something similar, they will look past it as if it has AIDS

In the end, local business will suffer. I watched a documentary on china's walmart. You won't believe it, they sell everything including pig tongue. I can just see it now - pple, in order to look good, will go to his friend and say, "Nna (scratching the back of his head), I just dey return from walmart o. I go buy small periwinkle" LOL

We go c sha,

Lololol @ My2cents

Yeah bro! they will buy up all the farms and control prices and wages. This company has a market value of over $211 Billion dollars. They can buy Nigeria and many other countries. Be careful what you wish for.

my2cents:

I can just see it now - people, in order to look good, will go to his friend and say, "Nna (scratching the back of his head), I just dey return from walmart o. I go buy small periwinkle" LOL

We go c sha,

That was so damn funny!

If indeed walmart intends to open here,how low will their prices be?Remember that low prices in the US and other parts of the world is not the same as low prices in Nigeria.

true talk spikedcylinder

spike,

here in the US, from a friend who works there, they sell 10% below what competitors are offering. They also pay below standards and their health insurance and other benefits suck. Also, they will fire you for even the slightest mistake. They won't mention this publicly of course, but those are some of the dirty tricks they play in order to keep prices low.

To answer the naija one: Say garri is 3 cups for N10 (from my last visit in 2003/4), they may decide to sell theirs at 4 cups for N10. Not only that, they will buy all the land they can find and produce the cassava/garri themselves, so that it remains in-house and thus keeps overhead low. Don't even be surprised if you find out that they import the thing from china sef.

Walmart good o, but trust me, there is a "high price" to their low price strategy.

. . . which is why there are sites like WakeUpWalmart.com, WalmartWatch and WalmartMovie

In other words,while some people are paying low prices others are paying high prices albeit in cash or kind!
I get that.

i don't think so walmart in nigeria?

---

they might as well build malls and stuff

Hey guys, I have been reading the forums for over a year and just registered an account.

To try to set the record straight, I did some googling and apparently Wal-Mart really did try to get into the Nigerian market.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5241430
If you listen to that show, at about a minute and thirty seconds in, Andrew Young (I don't know who he is but he helped Nike in Asian markets) says Wal-Mart sent him to try to get their store opened there.

This site also says the same thing:
http://walmart.nwanews.com/wm_story.php?paper=bcdr&storyid=34737

Young said he is pushing Wal-Mart to open a store in Nigeria to provide jobs and low prices for Africans. He is the co-founder of Goodworks International, a specialty consulting group that promotes commercial ventures in the Caribbean and Africa.

I don't know if they are still going through with the plan tho.

lol lol lol Haha Wal-Mart in Nigeria? Nah i don't believe that. But if its true damn its about time they made McDonald's there 2

I really dont see why a company like wal mart could not be used by the united nations to help africa meet their 2010 goal of the new minellium. By that, incentives can be used to favor africans in the way of consumer goods via walmart. NO taxation during importation of the goods from the US. UN should also be liable to payment for some percentage of the foods

well , this is a chance to create job opportunities for guyz and gals in Nigeria

I hope it works

& they need tight security

Very tight 1 o



They also need to have given the employees , ALL OF EM

proper test to be sure they are capable of working for them

Nice 1 there WALMART

hey e-daddy, how you doing ?

Wal Mart in Nigeria is not so much of a big deal. What i fear is the future of our small retailers- the Iya Onikiri and mallam ciga kiosks. As you are well aware, our economy is still being largely driven by these small contributors. The emergence of the likes of wal Mart/ TESCO(UK) is already affecting the fortunes of the corner shops in the developed world. I wonder what it would do in Nigeria.

@ Shinor

maybe those that might be affected should be employed @ Walmart



how about that ?

If larger stores like Walmart open up, it would drive the smaller vendors out of business. I consider that to be a good thing. Those vendors do not pay taxes, nor do they do a good job of keeping their surroundings free from dirt.

Walmart is a mega corporation. Infact the Walmart siblings are the richest family in the whole world.
Walmart does not actually manufacture . The do a lot of contract manufacturing and that is why they can cut prices.
We have a lot of micro retailers in Nigeria and Walmart entrance into nigeria will shake them. Walmart certainly will not open in more than 4-5 cities in Nigeria
It will stimulate SMEs like Shoprite has done for vegetable farmers etc

I'll just contribute two cents.

If Walmart were to open in Nigeria, they'll never be cheaper than 'Aba made' -- that is, except they add a 'Fake Goods' section.

I won't be surprised if they start out with high prices. Remember the hell MTN went through in order to buy into the telecomms industry? Since Walmart's bigger those greedy people in charge would expect a bigger 'cut.'

Zahymaka:

I'll just contribute two cents.

If Walmart were to open in Nigeria, they'll never be cheaper than 'Aba made' -- that is, except they add a 'Fake Goods' section.

I won't be surprised if they start out with high prices. Remember the hell MTN went through in order to buy into the telecomms industry? Since Walmart's bigger those greedy people in charge would expect a bigger 'cut.'

Thats what i was also trying to say.Low prices to them might not translate to low prices here in Nigeria.
If WalMart eventually buys its way into the Nigerian market after paying huge taxes which am sure would be imposed on them,the economic incidence eventually falls on the final cosumer and price levels will definately rise.

LOL, That idea just sounds interesting. I dont think Nigeria is ready for Walmart yet, common, they are just trying to re-energise the economy and the people could get the benefit as yet.

If a company like Walmart goes there, small business are dead already final death. I dont think such idea will be wise. nah!

Regardless, some things r for sure:

1) Ajegunle market et al would be wiped off the face of the earth. Quite frankly, I am not sure I want that aspect of our history gone just yet (bad, in my opinion)

2) The various "unions (Like waterleaf union that tells its "members" to count actual sticks of waterleaf per bundle and to fix their prices)" would evaporate overnight (good, in my opinion). The pple don't understand economics and would probably resort to "air forces" rather than keep their prices in check. Trust me spikecylinder, walmart will find a way to make prices low. If not so, they wouldn't consider.

As for the person (sorry, I forgot the name) who says that the corner markets are dirty, I would like to argue that though dirty, they define our society. Not to support it, but the walking in the mud pple have probably pissed in (eeeewww, but hey, na true no b so? ) on a rainy day; the bargaining till ur throat gets sore; the constant guarding of our property from sai monky; that is what makes our environment unique. I wouldn't even let anyone remove them for any reason. In fact, I heard that certain open-air markets have been made to move b4, but to no avail, cos of all the "forces" surrounding the establishing of such markets (but I digress).

I am so happy for the input guys. Very interesting. Na dis kind post I dey like. Not the ones about sex positions LOL