CEO Today Africa Awards

61 CEO TODAY AFRICA AWARDS 2020 South Africa Pieter C. Engelbrecht CEO of Shoprite Holdings LTD Firm Profile From the moment the Shoprite Group opened its very first stores in 1979, it had a bold vision for the future. One that would see the Group grow from strength to strength with new acquisitions and innovative expansion strategies building it into the leading food retailer it is today. With more than 2934 outlets in 15 countries across Africa and the Indian Oceans islands, employing over 147 000 people, the Group continues to seize new opportunities for growth and even greater success in years to come. We recognise that our capital, resources and relationships play an important role in our success. These range from our strategies and investments, which help us provide accessible and affordable food and other fast-moving consumer goods toour customers, wherever they are, through to our evolving understanding of how to continually pursue shared value through our business performance. www. shopr i teholdings.co . za About Pieter Engelbrecht Pieter Engelbrecht is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shoprite Holdings. He assumed the role on 1 January 2017, bringing with him extensive operational and management experience gained over 20 years with the Group. Engelbrecht has been a driving force behind the strategic thinking and decisiveness that characterises the Group’s actions and has led it to become Africa’s largest food retailer, South Africa’s largest private sector employer, and boasting South Africa’s most valuable retail brand, Shoprite, the low price leader on the continent. He and his team are focused on implementing the Group’s growth strategy throughout Africa to maintain their lead in discount retail for the one billion customers they serve each year. His strategy is backed up by his conviction that “together we are stronger”, implementing of a culture of teamwork and accountability, where every single employee contributes to taking the Shoprite vision forward and understands their role is serving customers. Pieter is passionate about change and has positioned the group to be a business with heart - where making profit goes hand in hand with a responsibility to the communities in which it operates. Engelbrecht is doubling down on the Group’s efforts to alleviate hunger on the continent and narrowing the inequality gap through job creation, job security, skills development, and nurturing small businesses. He is committed to innovating and utilising the group’s enormous scale to deliver the most affordable retail experience for the Group’s customers. He gained experience in the auditing and corporate finance divisions of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1993 to 1995 and was the accounting and operations manager at Harwill Industries until his Shoprite career commenced on 1 April 1997.