Carrefour’s stores may gleam with European efficiency, but behind the polished aisles lies a retail giant that has become Kenya’s most stubborn violator of competition and fair-trade rules.
No other supermarket has tested — and repeatedly crossed — the boundaries of the Competition Act quite like the French-owned chain.
At the heart of Carrefour’s troubles is a pattern of abusing buyer power, the very offence Parliament sought to curb when it strengthened Section 24A of the Act. Investigations by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) have exposed a familiar script: suppliers, often small Kenyan businesses, forced into signing contracts skewed entirely in Carrefour’s favour.
The supermarket routinely demanded listing fees, non-refundable rebates, and unilateral control over pricing, promotions, and returns. In several cases, suppliers even carried the risk of damaged or stolen goods — obligations the law expressly prohibits.
These practices were not isolated lapses. They were part of a systemic procurement culture, designed to extract maximum concessions from suppliers with minimal accountability.
When CAK cracked down, Carrefour paid the fines — and carried on.
For a multinational with deep pockets and global scale, penalties became a manageable cost, not a deterrent.
The impact on the market has been profound. Carrefour’s aggressive discounting, especially on fast-moving household goods, has squeezed mid-tier Kenyan retailers and destabilised pricing structures.
Its dominance in high-traffic malls gives it a gatekeeper advantage few local chains can match.
Over time, the shine of its low prices risks masking a slow erosion of competition, diversity, and local enterprise — the very pillars that keep consumer markets healthy.
For consumers, the aisles look modern, the shelves full, the experience premium.
But beneath that experience is a model that has repeatedly undermined fair dealing, distorted competition, and bullied suppliers into silence.
And until penalties bite harder and supplier protections grow stronger, Carrefour is likely to remain the most persistent — and unapologetic — offender of Kenya’s competition laws.
In a retail sector still healing from past collapses, Kenya can ill afford a player that wins by bending the rules.
