South Africa’s biggest clothing company, Pepkor Ltd., plans to expand into Nigeria as retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) fight for a share of some of the world’s fastest growing retail markets.

“Africa is awakening,” Pepkor Chairman, Christo Wiese said in an interview in Cape Town. “It’s a huge market of almost a billion people with huge resources and a young population. People spend when they’re young.”

Pepkor, which targets low-income earners, plans to open its first Nigerian store this year and may invest as much as 100 million rand ($14 million) in the first stage of its expansion, which may see about 50 outlets opened in Nigeria, the billionaire said.

Pepkor’s expansion mirrors the growth strategy of other international retailers, including Wal-Mart, which bought a controlling stake in South Africa’s Massmart Holdings Ltd. (MSM) to gain a foothold on the continent.

The 16.5 billion rand purchase gave Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart 51 percent of the largest wholesaler in South Africa, which also has operations in 12 other African nations.

Wiese, whose net worth is an estimated $1.6 billion according to Forbes Magazine, controls Shoprite Holdings Ltd. (SHP), Africa’s largest grocer, and holds more than a third of Brait SA (BAT), the biggest South African private equity company.

The 69-year-old is betting economies in Africa will expand faster than the U.S. and Europe. The entry into Africa of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, hasn’t changed Wiese’s plans, he said. “There’s enough for everybody. It’s a growing market.”

Pepkor will “ride on the coat tails” of Shoprite, which has 76 super markets in 15 African countries outside of South Africa. Pepkor will then expand in “nodes” across the continent, as it adds to its 2,800 stores in southern Africa, which include the Pep, Ackermans and Best & Less brands.

Pepkor’s expansion follows a June reorganisation of the retailer’s shareholding, which Wiese and Johannesburg-based Brait used to increase their stakes in the 46-year-old company.

Pepkor’s shareholders can now “take a long-term view and don’t have the pressure of having to close their investment in the company,” he said. The “synergistic benefits” between Pepkor and Shoprite also makes it unlikely Shoprite will be sold, Wiese said. “As it stands, our business is not for sale,” he said. Wiese’s son, Jacob, 30, is already involved in his businesses while his two daughters will probably retain ownership of his companies when he retires.