Eritrean group Anseba gets Kero hypermarket chain

The news had already been advanced by the press last week, stating that Anseba would take over the hypermarket chain previously owned by the Zahara group, linked to generals "Dino" (Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento) and Kopelipa (Helder Vieira Dias ) and passed into the hands of the State as part of the asset recovery program.

Later, IGAPE denied that the privatization process had been completed and Alimenta Angola resorted to lawyers to challenge the handover of the retail chain to the Eritreans.

According to a statement released this Wednesday, three competitors presented proposals - Anseba, Alimenta Angola and Camarufi - also linked to the two generals, former strongmen of former president José Eduardo dos Santos - but only Anseba and Alimenta Angola passed to the stage of negotiation, which focused on the financial component of the evaluation criteria, with the Preliminary Negotiation Report indicating an advantage for the Eritrean group.

"Notified of the Preliminary Trading Report, at the preliminary hearing, competitor ALIMENTA ANGOLA exercised its right to challenge the preliminary decision of the Evaluation Committee", arguments that were considered by the Evaluation Committee, which implied an improvement in the respective score, according to the IGAPE statement.

In the end, ANSEBA continued to prevail with a total score of 66.2 points.

IGAPE also points out that "in none of the stages of the procedure, the competitors presented documentary evidence of the existence of a possible association with international brands, to specifically participate in this competition", referring to the business partnership that would have been formed between the French group Carrefour and Alimenta Angola, from the Brazilian group Tenda Atacado.

"The public tender for the assignment of the right to operate and manage the KERO hypers and supermarkets network complied with all the necessary administrative procedures and is considered in accordance with the respective Program and with the Public Contracts Law", concludes the note from IGAPE press.