Wal-Mart, the famous superpower company, is attempting to expand into Africa by buying out Massmart Holdings in order to enter into a market internationally and expand globally. Wal-Mart’s attempted expansion into this market could bring in huge revenue for the company, seeing as South Africa is being named one of the world’s next emerging markets, with the International Monetary Fund estimating its growth at about 6% per year by 2011. If Wal-Mart were to obtain this opportunity, they could open themselves up to an expanding market and an entirely new geographical area in order to further expand into. By using Massmart’s success as a stepping stone, it minimizes the risk of failure since Massmart is already a successful supermarket. Since a quarter of Wal-Mart’s revenue is already coming from international markets, expanding into an emerging market could boost profit and productivity to make Wal-Mart an even stronger international corporation. I believe that Wal-Mart’s expansion into Africa is a beneficial move for the company, as it will increase their opportunity for further expansion while increasing revenue in a new emerging market.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/business/28views.html?_r=1&partner=yahoofinance