Harare — Shoprite chief executive officer (CEO), Whitey Basson says the time is not yet ripe for the leading South African supermarket chain operator to invest in Zimbabwe.

Despite having noted that Zimbabwe's economy was on the mend, Basson - who admitted this week that a stronger rand was buoying the company's forays into other African countries - said Shoprite will only enter into Zimbabwe "at the right time".

Speaking to Moneyweb Radio after the company' results presentation, Basson said: "Nothing at the moment because ... we've looked at the Zimbabwean situation and we don't think it's the right time to invest there".

He added that he believed it would be better if the company resrves its "energies for other areas" and that if Shoprite wanted to invest in Zimbabwe it would "pay more at the right time". The Shoprite CEO would rather have sleepless nights for the company's operation in Nigeria.

"So, I'm not going to say I'm having a sleepless night (about Zimbabwe), I'd rather have a sleepless night if the store in Abuja isn't on site," he underscored. The retail sector in Zimbabwe is mainly dominated by TM Supermarkets, OK and Spar.

Intense competition in the sector has pushed down prices while stock levels have improved as compared to previous periods before the introduction of the multi-currency regime. The Shoprite brand is one of the leaders in South African food retailing and is, according to independent market research, the brand of choice of the highest percentage of South African consumers.

Since starting out as a small chain of supermarkets in 1979, the Shoprite brand gained valuable experience from selling to the emerging market. Today, the Shoprite chain remains the core business of the Shoprite Group of Companies and its main brand.

Its operational strategy put the Shoprite brand in a position to expand into the African market outside of South Africa where its population has grown from one store in Lusaka, Zambia in 1995, to 71 stores in 16 countries today. The South African operation comprises 309 Shoprite stores.