Many South African companies had been looking for growth and markets to offset their products outside of SA and a large number of them expanded to Nigeria - Africa's biggest economy.
These companies hoped to unearth profits only imaginable in SA, but have failed owing to regulatory issues, underperforming businesses and political risk.
MTN, Shoprite, Pep and MultiChoice are among the biggest SA companies operating in Nigeria; however, other SA companies have left over the past seven years, citing regulatory issues and underperformance. These include hotels group Sun International, consumer food producer Tiger Brands and retailers Truworths, Woolworths and Mr Price.
