The mall will contain 50 stores, a bank and a Burger King. It will
also help develop the agricultural sector, as 170 small Ivorian
companies will be contracted as suppliers.
A local
traditional chief is seen at the PLAYCE mall housing the French
supermarket Carrefour after its inauguration by Ivory Coast's President
Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, December 18, 2015.
REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon
French distribution
group CFAO opened its first shopping mall in Africa on Friday, a $66
million centre in Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan, as part of a
major drive to tap into the growth of Africa's middle classes.
The
mall, a collaboration with French retailer Carrefour, is the first of
80 that CFAO plans to open in eight countries in West and Central Africa
in the next decade.
CFAO, which stands for Comptoir Francais de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, is active in the vehicle, pharmaceutical and computer sectors and is 97 percent owned by Japanese company Toyota Tsusho Corp.
"We estimate that in 2040, 250 million Africans will
have sufficient income to ... consume. It's precisely to accompany this
formidable growth of this middle class that CFAO is looking to open 80
centres," said CFAO Director General Richard Bielle.
The
mall will contain 50 stores, a bank and a Burger King. It will also
help develop the agricultural sector, as 170 small Ivorian companies
will be contracted as suppliers.
Ivory Coast is
the world's top cocoa grower and the leading economy in French-speaking
West Africa. Some 20 percent of Abidjan's 5 million residents are
considered middle class, and CFAO plans to open a dozen smaller malls
there.
Since emerging from a decade of political
turmoil and a brief civil war in 2011, the country has seen rapid
economic growth, becoming a darling for investors. President Alassane Ouattara was elected by a landslide in October to a second five-year term.
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