By CHATULA KANGALI –

•THE first customers admire goods on promotion at the newly-opened Pick n Pay store in Ndola yesterday. Picture by CHATULA KANGALI

PICK n Pay yesterday opened its Ndola outlet, the 12th in the country, at a cost of K25 million.
The new store located at Z-Mart Shopping Mall in Kansenshi area is the third store to be opened in Ndola and the seventh on the Copperbelt.
Copperbelt Minister Mwenya Musenge, who officially opened the store, said the move by Pick n Pay  to continue  expanding its operations  in Zambia  indicated  that foreign  investors were confident in the country’s economy.
He said if Zambia’s economy was not conducive for investment, foreign supermarkets like Pick n Pay would not have continued to open more stores in the country.
“Pick n Pay has continued to extend its footprint  in Zambia, especially on the Copperbelt. Today you  have  opened  a new store which has employed  over 100 locals.
“I’m well-informed that before the end of this year, you will be opening another store in Kitwe,” he  said.
Mr Musenge called on the chain supermarket to stock locally-produced products to provide a market to local producers.
He said the Government would not allow the supermarket to import fresh products like vegetables and milk that were locally produced.
Mr Musenge also urged local manufacturers and farmers to produce quality products that would meet the standards of the chain store.
Pick n Pay Zambia general manager Mark Vickery said the supermarket had invested K25 million in the Kansenshi store.
He said the supermarket now had 12 stores and over 1,300 employees in Zambia.
Mr Vickery said 99 per cent of the vegetables and fruits stocked in the supermarkets were locally produced.
Z-Mart Group of Companies proprietor Jignesh  Soni said he had invested K40 million to construct the mall.
He said the mall was in the next two months expected to house Nandos Restaurant, Creamy Inn, Pizza Inn, and Chicken Inn, among other outlets.