Melcom: How Ghana’s retail giant continues to evolve

With a network that spans supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, coffee shops and more, Melcom is a leading player in Ghana’s rapidly evolving retail sector. The company manages more than 1.7 million square feet of retail space, across all major towns and cities, establishing its reputation as ‘Where Ghana Shops’.

Built on entrepreneurial principles, Melcom continues to place innovation and     diversification at the heart of its growth strategy. Here, Managing Director Ramesh Sadhwani outlines how an expanding operational footprint, technological advances and local and international partnerships are shaping the company’s future.

What strategies underpin Melcom’s continued growth?

We will continue to keep retail as our core, but we have started to diversify over the last few years. More importantly, we need to keep our foundation strong, which means investing heavily in backward integration. We have invested in our supply chain, warehousing and distribution. We have found ways to keep costs under control, which include using solar energy and relying more on technology. We are firm believers that technology makes us more efficient and keeps costs down.

Similarly, we are looking at partnering with local farmers, entering a joint venture, or starting our own backward integration into the farming of fruits, vegetables and poultry, because the output needed for the public is sizeable. We are also looking at backward integration in product sourcing. We work with many local factories and try to support them as much as possible.

What is your roadmap for diversification?

We are looking to expand our industrial base. We already have a plastic production factory, and we are expanding on that side, and we are considering the possibility of a food factory of some kind next year. Over the last three to four years, we have also diversified heavily into the hospitality sector, especially restaurants. Every division has an operations manager or general manager responsible for maintaining high customer standards. Once you maintain your standards, you maintain your reputation.

In 2021, we acquired the Pizza Hut franchise in Ghana, and we operate around 20 other restaurants and three to four coffee shops, including the high-end concept Sip Gourmet.

How do you plan to maintain Melcom’s dominant retail position?

We are about to launch a platform called NOW, our own hyperlocal multi-category mobile app, which will focus primarily on groceries and food delivery. We are aiming for a 20-minute delivery window from order placement to delivery, using our stores as fulfilment centres. We have achieved five minutes’ synchronisation of our stores’ inventory with the NOW app, while simultaneously building our own last-mile delivery system. We have successfully completed several thousand test deliveries across Greater Accra, and our vehicles, equipped with refrigerators for frozen and fresh goods, will be implementing a full cold-chain delivery service.

How do you approach international partnerships, particularly with UAE investors?

We are working with many global brands as partners because of our size, and many of them approach us directly. We are open to opportunities and suggestions, and we keep an open mind. We are a leader in Ghana, but we are always willing to learn, to take advice and to explore collaborations in different formats.