Look Who it Was Random video

INTERVIEW: Lessons drawn from Nakumatt's woes

419 views · Published 26 December 2018 · 5:30 · Indexed 1 October 2026

Channel: CGTN Africa · 2018 · News & Politics

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By the end of 2018, the retail segment in Kenya's real estate sector had 340 000 sq meters of space available. That's about the size of 47 football fields, and occupancy rates varied from 90%, to as low 60% in new entrants. But, with over 450 000 sq meters - that's roughly another 65 football fields worth - of commercial shopping space in development, who's going to take up all that space? Adding to those concerns is the entry of Nakumatt - formerly East Africa's biggest retail chain - into administration. That exposed weak links in the relationship between landlords and anchor tenants, where landlords were stuck with a firm that owed them rent arrears, but they weren't able to - legally - evict them in a rapid and orderly fashion.  In some cases, landlords resorted to extra-legal means to literally throw out the retailer's assets, even as court cases dragged on. So, what lessons, if any, were learned from Nakumatt's implosion? That's a question I put to Willy Kimani, Chair of the Retail Trade Association of Kenya, and COO of the retail chain, Naivas. 

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