International shopping centre specialist Sonae Sierra has entered the Algerian market with the creation of Sierra Cevital, a shopping centre services provider active in retail development, management and letting activities.
International shopping centre specialist Sonae Sierra has entered the Algerian market with the creation of Sierra Cevital, a shopping centre services provider active in retail development, management and letting activities.
Sierra Cevital is owned by Sonae Sierra and Cevital, an Algerian private group with interests in several business areas, namely the food, construction, glass manufacturing and car industries. More recently, the group invested in the retail sector, with the acquisition of hypermarket chain Uno.
The announcement follows Sonae Sierra's first foray in North Africa with its entry in Morocco last year .
Fernando Guedes de Oliveira, Sonae Sierra's CEO, said the move represents another step in the group's diversification strategy on the international stage.
With 36 million inhabitants, Algeria is an attractive retail development market and is undersupplied in terms of retail space, with an average retail provision of 5 m2 per 1,000 inhabitants compared to an EU average of 226 m2. In macro-economic terms, the country boasted a GDP growth rate of 3.6% in 2010.
