Midrock Says the Reports That Carrefour Opens in Two Weeks Are Wrong

Midrock Investment Group has publicly rejected reports that the French retailer Carrefour will begin trading in Ethiopia within two weeks, calling the information wrong and misleading.

What was claimed, and what Midrock says

The reports circulating in local media held two things: that Carrefour's official launch was a fortnight away, and that a number of Queens supermarket branches had already been converted to the Carrefour brand, with some of those stores trading in areas outside Addis Abeba.

Midrock's answer was that the claims were not known to the group at all. The partnership itself is not in dispute — Carrefour's entry into the Ethiopian market through an agreement with Midrock was announced previously, and the group has not walked that back. What it is disputing is the timetable and the conversion story attached to it.

Why this matters

Carrefour's arrival is the largest piece of foreign direct investment in Ethiopian organised retail since the sector was opened to foreign operators, and it lands into a grocery market where formal chains still account for a small share of household spending. Suppliers negotiating listing terms, landlords pricing retail space and competing chains planning their own expansion are all working from assumptions about when the first store opens and under what banner.

An unconfirmed two-week timetable moves those decisions. A denial from the local partner moves them back.

Open

Midrock's notice refers to an official start date, but fact.et has not been able to confirm which calendar that date is quoted in, and so is not publishing it. Neither Carrefour nor Midrock has issued a dated opening announcement. It is also unclear whether any Queens branches have changed hands or branding at all, or whether the reports confused a supply arrangement with a conversion. Carrefour's regional office has not commented.

Sources: Tikvah Ethiopia, 19 October 2026