CityDia opens 18th supermarket in Ghana

CityDia opened a supermarket in the Accra suburb of Dansoman during mid-December 2018. 16 of its 18 stores are located in Accra, with one apiece in Kusami and Kyebi. It is also planning to build a 20,000m² distribution centre in the capital.
João Rente Correia, general manager of CityDia Ghana, who previously worked for Portuguese supermarket chain Sonae and Mega Cash & Carry in Angola, commented earlier this year that “There is room for expansion [in Ghana], as an ever-growing middle class and a large, young urban population are the driving forces of growth.”
CityDia is a partnership between Spain-based Supermercados DIA, which was a subsidiary of Carrefour between 2000 and 2011, and EcoDi (Economic Distribution Company Ghana). CityDia supermarkets can also be found in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. It formerly had stores in Senegal, but it sold these to Auchan and exited this market late last year.
CityDia stores stock a significant number of private label SKUs, including pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, and toiletries. This landed the retailer in hot water with Ghanaian regulators earlier this year, as many of these products have labels that are written in Spanish and Portuguese but not in English (the country’s lingua franca). This resulted in the temporary closure of at least two CityDia outlet but does not appear to have had any lasting impact on its operations.
The Sagaci Research View: With GDP growth of 6.3% in 2019, Ghana is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but according to Sagaci Research data, modern formats accounted for a mere 3% of grocery retail sales in 2018.
As a result, it is one of the more dynamic markets in sub-Saharan Africa, with South African chains Shoprite and Massmart (the latter via its Game banner) and local player MaxMart all expanding. However, there are now more CityDia supermarkets in Ghana than these three banners combined – an impressive feat for a player that only entered the market in 2016.