Last month, retail group Massmart announced that it would be hosting its inaugural Growth Summit in partnership with parent company, Walmart. The summit provides opportunity for Africa-based suppliers who manufacture, grow or assemble on the continent to connect directly with the appropriate Massmart buyers.
Altogether, over 300 suppliers based in countries across the continent completed an online screening process of which 250 suppliers will be invited to the summit to pitch their products directly to Massmart’s buyers. Commenting, Herman Venter, Massmart Chief Merchandise Officer says, “The summit announcement has generated interest from suppliers in 14 African countries, including from Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania and Botswana, across a wide range of product categories which include tea, coffee, clothing, luggage and liquor. In the case of South Africa, responses were received from over 200 suppliers based across the country. This includes existing suppliers who want to expand their business with Massmart, but the significant majority are first time suppliers of product including nuts, fresh produce and handbags.”
The selected supplier participants will be notified in early March after which they will have opportunity to complete remote online learning modules that will help them prepare their pitch and orientate them to key considerations for doing business with Massmart. Preparing an impactful pitch is a vital success factor for suppliers given that they will have 30 minutes in private meetings at the summit to present their product and their message to Massmart’s buyers. The idea of a Massmart and Walmart Growth Summit in Africa was first discussed with a team from the DTIC and Walmart at the U.N. General Assembly in New York last year. While the event will be Massmart’s first, it follows a series of successful Growth Summits which Walmart hosted in China, Chile and the US last year.
“We are delighted by the high response rate from suppliers across the continent who are interested in supplying products to our Makro, Game and Builders stores. Our screening process is well underway to identify the top 250 applicants, who will receive an invitation to our Growth Summit,” Venter concluded.
The summit will be held in Johannesburg on 2 April 2025.
