Groupe EDK, Senegal’s main home-grown fashionable grocery retailer, managed by businessman Demba Ka, has secured as much as €25 million (about $30 million) from the Worldwide Finance Company (IFC) to speed up its nationwide retail enlargement and strengthen its steadiness sheet.
The financing, largely structured in native foreign money, marks one in all IFC’s most important bets on home retail in Senegal and underscores rising confidence in EDK as an area champion able to scaling formal grocery entry past Dakar.
Scaling fashionable retail past Dakar
The financing, supplied largely in native foreign money with a transparent give attention to underserved secondary cities reminiscent of Karang, Fatick and Kaolack, will assist the renovation of EDK’s present Low Worth shops and the opening of as much as 18 new shops by 2027. These areas are nonetheless largely depending on casual markets, that are steadily marked by erratic provide, unstable costs, and poor high quality management.
By increasing into regional markets and peri-urban areas, the main Senegalese conglomerate goals to deliver affordable pricing, high quality groceries and extra environment friendly provide chains nearer to lower-income households. In a transfer to strengthen the group’s monetary stability, a major quantity of this landmark financing will tackle debt consolidation and refinancing.
Jobs, inclusion and meals safety
In keeping with IFC, the enlargement will generate about 2,450 jobs, together with 850 in-store roles, with a powerful emphasis on gender inclusion.
Past employment, the funding is anticipated to strengthen linkages with native farmers, processors and distributors, serving to formalise meals provide chains and cut back post-harvest losses.
“IFC’s assist is a game-changer for EDK and Senegal’s retail sector,” Ka mentioned, noting that the partnership will assist the group deliver high quality groceries nearer to households whereas strengthening native worth chains.
Backing an area champion
Based in 2009 by Demba Ka, Groupe EDK has grown steadily in a market lengthy dominated by casual commerce and foreign-backed chains. At a time when meals inflation and strain on buying energy proceed to be main considerations, its low-price format has positioned it as a worth retailer assembly on a regular basis demand.
The settlement is in keeping with Senegal’s Imaginative and prescient 2050 and the federal government’s Sunu Champions agenda, which goals to develop aggressive home companies. By supporting EDK, IFC is inserting a wager that up to date retail, when developed by regional gamers, can produce quantifiable social impression in addition to monetary features all through Senegal.
