Sometimes, you just have to say what the heck. Or so, we assume, is the Massmart thinking vis-à-vis their ambition to open a store in Kenya. They were hoping to do it either on the cheap, or the down-low, or both, by acquiring a complaisant local outfit and getting in that way. But, as documented in these pages, target of choice Naivas became involved in an ugly intramural spat over who actually owned the business, so Massmart, twirling their finger around their ear and making surreptitious “cuckoo!” sounds, have decided to go it alone. They will be opening their first store – a Game? – by the end of May in Nairobi’s new Garden City mall, located along Thika Highway, a route much prized for its proximity to the gated communities where people with money prefer to congregate. Once in-country, they will find themselves up against a pack of canny local crews, including Nakumatt, Tuskys, Uchumi and Naivas itself, licking its wounds and looking to do some damage.

Comment: It’s your problem-free, philosophy….

Drably-named Aussie retailer David Jones appears to be taking a leaf out of parent-company Woolies’s playbook when it comes to ethical sourcing. According to CEO Ian Nairn (you’ll know him as Een Neen if you happen to be Australian), he was shaken by the collapse two years ago in Bangladesh of the Rana Plaza factory, where a DJ supplier sourced garments, and this has motivated him to launch an ethical sourcing programme and supplier code of conduct, which will eventually see all 1,600 brands in the chain becoming sustainable, environmentally friendly, and child and slave-labour free. And interestingly, he’s also inspired by suppliers who lead the way by example – Estée Lauder and L'Oréal, for example, but also a bunch of young Aussie designers who want to do the right thing. Currently, 12% of supplier brands had signed on, with no resistance.

Comment: It’s taken a long time, but the groundswell seems to be building for a movement towards a kinder, gentler and more sustainable capitalism. This is huge.

More on that Choppies listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE). The plucky Botswanan retailer, which owns 125 stores in Botswana, Zim, and right here in the Beloved Country, where it has 35, is looking to raise $48million. Choppies, which is valued at $482million, plans to double its number of stores, hitting 200 by the end of 2016 and opening in Zambia and Tanzania by mid-this-year. Unlike the major South African retailers up against whom it is increasingly going, Choppies avoids big malls and opens its stores on bus routes and near taxi ranks, where thus far it seems to have weathered the downturn in retail that has affected its rivals. It has plans to generate 25% of its revenue from private label in SA, where others have been fortunate to get to 12%. 35% of the business is currently owned by management, while another 12% is held by London-based Standard Chartered Bank, who aren’t letting go anytime soon.

Comment: Definitely one to watch; probably one to buy also.

A tough year for the big guy, if we are reading their annuals correctly: Revenue was up a grinding 6% to $22.1billion, while net profit was down a natz, from $3.38billion last year to $3.3billion this year. Growth slowed in North America and China (where it has recovered somewhat over the past three months), although Africa and Latin America continue to please. Currency fluctuations have also been an issue for the JSE-and London-listed brewer, which narrowed its focus on beverages this year with the disposal of Tsogo Sun for a cool $971million. Future plans include an ongoing focus on cost savings, targeted at $500million by 2018, and apparently on track for that.

Comment: One wonders whether the newfound passion in North America for independently-brewed or artisanal beers hasn’t come into play? And if so, look for some acquisitions in that sector, accompanied by some grittily authentic marketing involving, yes, beards and penny-farthing bicycles.

In its recent trading update, the Stripe One warned punters not to expect fireworks, as the business is still absorbing costs associated with the – may we say it? – disastrous acquisition of Dangote Flour Mills in Nigeria. Tiger CEO Peter Matlare admits that they underestimated the complexities of fixing and operating the business in a challenging place like Nigeria. Nigeria seemed like a good bet at the time for Tiger, with domestic growth trundling along at just 2%, and business elsewhere in Africa humming at 5-7%. Some analysts kindly attribute Tiger’s misplaced enthusiasm to the masking effect of Nigerian growth whose economy was running hot at the time of the acquisition but has tanked with the decline in the price of oil. Others less generous are muttering about due diligence.

Comment: Still, as Conan the Barbarian and Kelly Clarkson will tell you, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Dangote might yet prove to be an expensive lesson well learned for Tiger.

Comment: Having cast an eye (and an aspersion or two) on the healthcare sector, and prevented the construction boytjies from colluding on stadium contracts for the World Cup, the Competition Commission at the behest of Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, will shortly be launching an enquiry into the state of the competitive arts in our own great industry, including tenancy arrangements and the growth of township enterprises. “It’s intended to ensure that we’ve got a competitive but also inclusive retail sector," he says. “Time this town was cleaned up, anyhow.”

Rolling their eyes heavenward, kicking the rubbish bin and slamming their bedroom door, Moody’s have threatened to downgrade SA’s rating once again, if we don’t maintain our commitment to fiscal consolidation and debt stabilisation, or if our investment climate gets more miserable, threatening the availability of funding for our worrying current account deficit. Currently, Moody’s have us at a generous Baa2, but if things don’t improve, we’re apparently looking at a BlaaaH.

In its ongoing efforts to simplify and focus the business, Durban-based pharmacy crew Aspen are selling their portfolio of branded and generic projects, including injectables, pain products and anti-infectives for R1.6billion to Litha Pharmacare, the SA unit of US giant Endo International. This as Aspen struggles like so many others to absorb the dollar-based cost of many of its raw materials. A canny move, which should see some recovery in the Aspen share.