By: Se-Anne Rall – IOL

Shoprite is set to shut down its Malawi operations after 25 years of operations. The country's biggest grocery retailer will do the same in Ghana as part of its plans to exit several African countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and focus on its home market.

According to reports, this move comes following challenges with US-dollar-charged rentals, high inflation, weak currencies and exorbitant import costs.

In June, Shoprite agreed to sell off five of its stores in Malawi to Karson on the condition that staff who want to stay will be retained and those who leave will be properly compensated. Karson must also provide reports every three months for a period of two years as proof that it is following the rules. The Karson-acquired stores will operate under the name Shopwise Trading Limited and continue to sell groceries.

Meanwhile, in Ghana, Shoprite has sold a warehouse and seven stores.

As per its latest report, the Shoprite group has surpassed the R250 billion sales mark this year. In rand terms, just our growth in sales this year equated to R20.6 billion.

CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht, said in respect of its core Supermarkets RSA segment this year, Shoprite and Usave’s turnover increased by 5.9%, equating to sales growth of R6.5 billion from a substantial base of R110.1 billion.

"Our customers remain pressured on a number of fronts, and disposable incomes are stretched. It is for this reason the teams pulled together to keep sell inflation at Shoprite (on a volume weighted basis) below 2%. Promotional participation was higher than 2024 but to compensate, Shoprite doubled-down in terms of its operational disciplines and managed to improve gross margins year-on-year," he explained.

Engelbrecht said with respect to the sales included in its Supermarkets RSA segment from its on-demand ecommerce platform, Sixty60’s sales increased by 47.7%, equating to R18.9 billion this year.

"Success measures outside of its growth and sales quantum include its incredible brand advocacy underscored by the Sixty60 customer experience, evidenced by its 94.0% on-time deliveries and 96.8% order fulfilment," he said.

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