Spar Group Ltd said it would be opening a store in the Angolan capital of Luanda within six months. The South African retailer of food and beverages would be working with an unnamed local partner. Spar Group Finance Director Mark Godfrey told Bloomberg that Spar would take care of the products as well as logistics support. "We decided some time ago that in taking our business model to Africa we needed local expertise or we were wasting our time," he added.

The food retail market in South Africa has become increasingly competitive. As a result grocers have expanded their holdings to the rest of the continent. In 2003, Shoprite Holdings started operations in Luanda. Currently, the largest retailer in South Africa has 153 supermarkets operating outside its home turf. Shoprite is present in 16 countries in Africa.

Retail Analyst Kirsty Laschinger of SBG Securities Ltd based in Johannesburg told Bloomberg, "There has been a very clear change in Spar's thinking about Africa in the past 18 months, looking to grow its presence. Angola is a tough geography with increasing competition, but it's a big economy and if you are looking to grow in the west coast of Africa you have to be in the big countries."