In fact if you want a bakery or a butcher shop, you have to go to the African Mall or its equivalent in other towns throughout Botswana. It is only in these older open malls that it is easy to operate. But prime customers do not shop at these malls and so if you have a business there, you are not as likely to have as wealthy or as many customers as in the modern malls.
The lease arrangements that exist between the mall owners and developers and supermarkets that are their 'anchor tenants' and commonly occupy a prime place in the new malls are not public so one can only speculate as to their content. However, a recent review of the lease arrangements between the shopping malls and their tenants by the South African Competition Commission revealed some startling facts about the long term leases with the mall owner, which last from 10 years and above but have renewal options of 40 years. The 'Use and Exclusiveness' provisions in the lease very often stop anyone competing with the large supermarkets. The South African Competition Commission concluded in its report that 'exclusive leases in these local markets are not justified and that they result in anti-competitive outcomes such as enabling supermarkets to maintain their position of market power. They further exclude independent and small retailers from entering certain shopping malls where the main supermarket chains are anchor tenants. In so doing, they may reduce competitive rivalry in different ways, including in terms of prices to consumers.
