Mergers and acquisitions, eh? Think you’re getting one thing, turns out you’re getting something else. Wakro (as we waggishly called it back then) is now five years old, and it seems that Massmart has not thrown open the doors to the kingdom of Africa as Walmart had hoped. Part of the problem has been slow growth here at home, which has seen all of our retailers take a knock after the retail boom of 2007/8. Africa is also proving a challenge for all retailers, with initial growth off a low base tailing off as everyone gets ensnared in red tape and local resistance to foreign businesses. And the strong dollar hasn’t helped much either. These headwinds are not new to Walmart, which has just closed 60 stores in Brazil, has only 21 in India and is finding in China that the government is more supportive of local retailers than foreign devils.

Comment: Still, Massmart has embarked on a strategy of slow but steady growth on the continent, and if Walmart shareholders are prepared to go the distance they may yet be rewarded.

It being a slow news week, here’s something about peanuts, which evolution has seen fit to render deadly or at least uncomfortable to an inexplicable 1-2% of the human race. And which Woolies inadvertently included with insufficient labelling in 12 of its ice cream and sorbet products, which are now safely back on the shelves, labelled up and ready to offer some relief from the unseasonal late-summer heatwave. Woolies have not divulged how many nuts were actually lost through the recall. Two of the affected lines have been discontinued, while another two are temporarily out of stock.

Comment: One forgets sometimes that with its massive private-label offering Woolies is almost as much a supplier as it is a retailer, and must shoulder the burdens of consumer accountability that come with both.

“It’s terrible there,” according to Clover CEO Johann Vorster, voicing something about Nigeria that every South African business knows but few have had the gumption to actually say. This as Clover shelves its plans to expand in Africa’s most promising basket case due to over-zealous import regulations and foreign exchange controls. Also because it proved difficult to buy milk there, to access currency and to procure packaging, all of which come in handy for a dairy business on foreign shores. Initially, Clover wondered if it hadn’t dragged its heels in failing to open a manufacturing facility at a time when the Nigerian government was offering currency incentives to businesses willing to dip a toe. Now, it wonders instead if it hasn’t dodged a bullet.

Comment: That whole “Africa is not for cissies” schtick is tired and counterproductive. Make Africa safe for business, and development will follow.

RCL FOODS is diversifying the heck away from its traditional stomping ground, and no mistake. It’s already active in the pet food market, bringing such brands as Epol and Bobtail to the more pungently aroma’ed shelves in SA’s supermarkets. It’s also captured a fair slice of the posh pet food category, with Optimizor, Ultra Dog and Canine Cuisine all growing handsomely. But this, it appears, is not enough. Despite the downturn in economic growth, many South Africans continue to anthropomorphise their pets, regarding them as hairier, shorter members of the family, much like great aunt Vera, creating an ongoing opportunity for growth in the upmarket segment. Hence RCL’s decision to pump R100million into the construction of a premium pet food factory in Randfontein in the next 18 months, the better to mount an assault on the dominance of imported brands.

Comment: Who would have thought eh? Still, RCL seem to think it’s a good idea, and they’re not a business to invest like this lightly.

Comment: Nicely recovered there Nampak

Comment: South Africa has proved itself equal to the task of heeding a wakeup call – when that call is perilously close and deafeningly loud.