Shoprite Extends Outlet to Akwa Ibom

One of the multinationals of Africa, Shoprite, at the weekend said it would commence construction of its Akwa Ibom outlet in three months and in 18 months and will employ no fewer than 600 indigenes of Akwa Ibom State when fully operational in the state.

Its Director, Mr. Holland Marshall, who made the disclosure at the ground breaking ceremony to establish a shopping mall of Shoprite at the Ibom Tropicana Complex, Uyo, said the company would commence construction in three months and in 18 months, full commercial operations would begin.

He promised a standard edifice that would befit the status of the state in line with government’s drive for industrialisation and thanked the state government and the host community for accepting them in their domain, calling for a favourable business relationship and cooperation from the host community.

Speaking at the ceremony, the state Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, lauded the decision of Resilient Africa to establish Shoprite in the state, noting that the initiative underscores the avowed determination of his administration to place the state among comity of industrialised nations.

He described the state as a land of abundance in all fields of human endeavour, saying that Resilient Africa had deemed it fit to invest in the state in order to open up job opportunities and create wealth.

The governor observed that the company had built a fantastic profile for itself in countries where they operate and enjoined them to maintain the standards in which they are known for.

Emmanuel expressed delight on the proposed used of 80 per cent local content in human and material resources and charged them to complete the project in a record time.

He said ground breaking ceremonies performed in recent times across the state have been complimented with training of youths to imbue in them requisite skills that would make them fit into the companies when they are operational.