OREANDA-NEWS. December 22, 2015. Within the framework of the partnership between CFAO and Carrefour that was formalised in May 2013, the first Carrefour hypermarket has just opened in the Ivory Coast, in Abidjan.

It's located in "PlaYce Marcory”, a brand-new 20,000 m shopping centre. Designed and operated by CFAO, it features 3 separate areas: the Carrefour hypermarket with its 3200 m? sales area, a 55-store shopping centre and a food court with a seating area that can accommodate up to 400 people.
The hypermarket employs 510 people, practicing more than 100 different jobs. Carrefour’s teams were involved in the selection processes and will continue to manage the employees so that the relevant skills can be properly transferred. 16,000 hours of training delivered since April 2015.
The store has a very wide range (more than 30,000 items) and features national brands, Carrefour own-brand products and local products. The store also has a number of traditional sections – a butcher’s, a fish counter and a bakery/pastry section.

As far as equipment is concerned, the store minimises its environmental footprint by using LED lighting exclusively and closed ultra-fresh refrigeration units.

The Carrefour/CFAO partnership
This partnership began in May 2013 and involves a joint-venture company 55% of which is controlled by CFAO and the remaining 45% by Carrefour. The company operates supermarkets and hypermarkets in PlaYce shopping centres in eight countries throughout the region (Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Senegal).

By entering into this agreement, CFAO – Africa’s leading retail group, and Carrefour – the world's second-largest retail group, are providing consumers with all of Carrefour's strength and the expertise of its central purchasing units, together with CFAO’s intimate knowledge of distribution channels in Africa.

This opening marks the first step in a major development plan involving CFAO, Carrefour and other partner brands that will be deployed over the next few years in eight African countries.

Carrefour stores located in PlaYce centres can be of a number of different formats: neighbourhood retailers, supermarkets or hypermarkets.