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Philip Morris Launches First Africa Store to Spark Alternative Cigarettes
Demand

Reuters

   JOHANNESBURG - The South African unit of cigarette maker Philip Morris
   International opened its first flagship store in Johannesburg on
   Thursday, as it tries to grow demand in Africa for its alternative
   heated tobacco product IQOS.

   The store in Sandton gives Philip Morris access to tourists and
   business people from Africa who frequent Africa's richest square mile,
   allowing it to use its retail footprint as a springboard to expand in
   the rest of the continent.

   "If you look at Sandton, it's the business hub of South Africa and
   Africa as well so it's the one place where we need to start with our
   permanent flagship store," Philip Morris South Africa Managing Director
   Marcelo Nico told Reuters at the sidelines of the launch.

   South Africa is the first and only market in Africa where Philip Morris
   sells IQOS, an acronym for "I quit ordinary smoking," which the company
   says contains up to 95% fewer toxic compounds than regular cigarettes.

   "We are bringing the first experience of commercializing this
   technology on the African continent and the objective is, based on this
   experience over time, roll it out in the rest of the continent," Nico
   said.