Why People, Not Just Technology, Are Driving Naivas’ Growth Across East Africa

“Retail can sometimes be looked down upon compared to other careers.”

That line stuck with me after sitting down with Andreas von Paleske, CEO of Naivas, at World Retail Congress in Berlin.

Because after hearing how Naivas is scaling grocery retail across East Africa, employing 12,000+ people, and using technology to rethink both customer experience and workforce development, it became pretty clear:

Retail is one of the most operationally complex, people-intensive, and high-impact industries in the world.

Andreas came into the business from private equity, originally joining Naivas when it was the #3 grocer in Kenya with around 30 stores.

Today?

114 stores.
3.5 million loyalty members.
The leading grocery retailer in the market.

But what stood out most in the conversation was not the scale.

It was the philosophy behind how they are building it.

Retail as Economic Infrastructure

One of the most interesting parts of the discussion was hearing Andreas describe grocery retail not simply as commerce, but as infrastructure.

In Kenya, modern grocery retail still only represents around 20–25% of the market, meaning much of the industry remains informal.

Naivas has helped push that transformation forward by expanding access to affordable groceries, improving supply chain efficiency, and investing heavily in fresh produce, store standards, and customer trust.

And importantly, they are doing it while creating meaningful employment opportunities at scale.

That changes the role retail plays in a community.

Careers, Not Jobs

Naivas hires heavily from university graduates, many of whom begin in entry-level store roles.

But instead of treating those positions as transactional labor, the company treats them as long-term career entry points.

Over 99% of promotions are internal.

That stat says a lot.

The company invests heavily in training, bonuses, and development programs because they believe the future of retail depends on creating upward mobility inside the organization.

“We talk a lot about careers versus jobs.”

That mindset becomes especially important as AI enters the conversation.

AI as a Productivity Unlock, Not a Threat

Like nearly every executive conversation this week, AI came up quickly.

But Andreas framed it in a way I thought was refreshingly practical.

The goal is not replacing employees.
It is removing low-value, repetitive work.

Demand planning.
Planogramming.
Administrative tasks.

The idea is to free employees up to spend more time serving customers, improving store experience, and making smarter decisions.

And honestly, grocery retail may be one of the best examples of where this shift becomes tangible.

When employees are no longer trapped doing purely operational tasks, they can become far more engaged in selling, helping, and building customer relationships.

That creates value on both sides:
better employee experience and better customer experience.

Why Fresh Still Matters

Another thing I loved hearing Andreas talk about was the importance of fresh produce.

Walk into a Naivas store, and one of the first things you see is an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.

That is intentional.

Fresh drives frequency.
Fresh builds trust.
Fresh creates emotional connection.

And visually, it completely changes the feeling of a grocery environment.

It was also interesting hearing how similar many aspects of Kenyan grocery retail actually are to U.S. and European retail operations, from planogramming to loyalty programs to private label development.

In many ways, the challenges are universal.
The context is simply different.