The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reported in a recent study of the African retail market that the modern retail penetration rate in Morocco is expected to increase from less than 20% in 2021 to around 30% in 2030. BCG studied over 4,500 small retailers in Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to assess the future of the African retail market.
The group concluded that the African retail market is diverse, as each country’s performance in the modern retail penetration and digital transformation indices has varied. Morocco, Egypt and Nigeria, for example, have yet to reach their modern retail potential, according to the study. South Africa, however, recorded the highest African penetration rate of 70% in 2021.
In 2021, modern retail penetration in Morocco was less than 20%, while Nigeria had a lower rate of around 5%. Egypt outperformed both countries with a penetration rate below 30%. Nonetheless, the results show that traditional retailers in the five markets tend to be young, educated, digitally savvy, and financially savvy.
In Morocco, traditional merchants currently make 82% of the country’s sales, 90% of them offering credit to their customers. The merchant credit service, according to BCG, partly explains the resilience of the sector in the face of large modern brands such as Carrefour, Marjane and BIM.