African Travel Retail Has Become A Major Growth Hotspot For Lagardère

Kigali is Lagardère Travel Retail’s latest African location.

Brian Baluku

France’s Lagardère Travel Retail has just opened another duty-free store in Africa, this time at Kigali International Airport in Rwanda. The move, following a concession award from the gateway’s operator, Rwanda Airports Company (RAC), means that Paris-based Lagardère now operates more than 30 stores in eight countries in Africa.

Markets in which the travel retailer has expanded into at some speed include Benin, Gambia, Gabon, Mauritania, Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. This momentum has made Africa one of the company’s fastest growing regions, with revenue up 35% in the third quarter.

Kigali Airport’s 4,700-square-foot (435 square meters) airside departures store uses the Aelia retail banner. It is operated in partnership with privately-owned, Rwanda-based Flairway, a provider of aviation, logistics and aviation software solutions.

Charles Habonimana, managing director of RAC, said that Lagardère’s arrival marked an important milestone in the airport’s journey to enhance the passenger experience. “This partnership expands the portfolio of duty-free services giving travelers access to a wider variety of international and local products,” he said. “It ensures that every passenger can leave Rwanda carrying a touch of our country’s creativity and hospitality with them.”

Forest rum to banana wine

Habonimana was referencing local labels and brands that have been sourced for the shop to celebrates Rwanda’s crafts and its natural produce such as coffee, tea, and avocado oil.

Among the store’s highlights are Golden Ale and IPA from Kweza, Rwanda’s first women-owned craft brewery; Kari, an award-winning potato vodka made by Virunga Mountain Spirits; a traditional banana wine, and Imizi Forest Rum, infused with forest botanicals. In addition, passengers will find organic Rwandan honey, and artisan beeswax candles made with local essential oils.

The store also offers standard duty free staples. The emphasis is on wines, spirits and beauty, as well as a selection of confectionery, eyewear, luggage, and watches and jewelry. Inside the store, an own-label Relay travel essentials shop-in-shop sells portable electronics and snacking products. In Europe, Relay is debuting at London Heathrow Airport next summer.

Sountou Bousso, Lagardère Travel Retail’s CEO of West, Central and East Africa, said of the Kigali debut: “This airport is the gateway to one of Africa’s fastest-growing tourist destinations. We are excited about the potential for travel retail in Rwanda and grateful for the trust placed in us by Rwanda Airports Company.”

Kigali Airport serves the capital city of the same name and is the hub for RwandAir, Rwanda’s national carrier which is in expansion mode. Kigali is the largest city in the country with a population of 1.7 million.

Extended CEO remit signals Lagardère’s African ambitions

Bousso’s appointment to his current role was announced in November when he added the East Africa region (Tanzania and Rwanda to date) to his existing CEO responsibilities for West and Central Africa. He joined Lagardère in 2020 after seven years with food services player Newrest Group where he held various senior management positions.

Lagardère Travel Retail’s regional expansion in Africa requires more oversight to ensure that supply chains and logistics work smoothly in what the company describes as “fast-growing markets.” A single CEO across West, Central and East Africa looks like quite a stretch for such a vast geographical area, but the company believes it will “foster greater collaboration between teams” and enable shared expertise to support growth.

Vincent Romet, Lagardère Travel Retail’s chief operating officer for the Middle East, Africa, East and Southeast Asia said that the widened responsibilities would allow for continued delivery of high operational standards “while preparing for future growth across Africa.”