Carrefour’s franchise partner Majid Al Futtaim plans to open 15 Carrefour hypermarkets and 30 supermarkets this year. Majid Al Futtaim chief executive Iyad Malas said: “We will complete the construction of two malls (Fujairah City Centre and Beirut City Centre) and expect to start construction in Cairo at our Mall of Egypt Project.”

In 2011, the franchisee’s sales rose 2.2% to Dh15.2bn (£2.64bn).