Anyone can open their first store in the DRC. Well, almost anyone. In fact, almost no one come to think of it. Except Shoprite. And you know what? They’re going to follow it up with a second, and not in the rarefied, sterile, air conditioned wastes of Kinshasa, either. Oh, no. They’re setting up shop in Luano City, a mall which has currently gone under construction on the outskirts (vultures, jungle giving way to shacks) of the southern mining hub of Lubumbashi (saloons, occasional pistol fire). Luano City, we are told, is an initiative of the quite delightfully-named international entrepreneur Preston Haskell, with whom we’ve occasionally played polo. Or did we make our escape with him from an exploding bunker, in a white Lamborghini, wearing a black satin Givenchy evening gown? We forget. Anyway. Luano City opens next October, and is 6,000m2 big.
Comment: Powerful stuff from the Big Red One. And of course, from dear Preston. Dear, dear Preston…