Christo Wiese's Shoprite buys into R&A Cellular to compete in South Africa's $61 billion informal economy

Shoprite Group has completed its acquisition of a controlling 51% stake in R&A Cellular, a fintech point-of-sale specialist focused on South Africa's informal economy, as the Checkers owner moves to capture a slice of a market estimated to be worth between $46 billion (R750 billion) and $61 billion (R1 trillion).

The transaction was finalised on August 14, after the group's financial year-end of June 28, 2026, which is why Shoprite did not quantify the purchase price in its latest results. Chief executive Pieter Engelbrecht described the acquisition alongside an agreement to buy 100% of coffee company Vida e Caffe as "relatively small but strategic."

R&A Cellular operates a device network that allows informal retailers, including spaza shops and semi-formal micro merchants, to sell airtime, electricity vouchers and entertainment products through point-of-sale terminals. The company's founder and chief executive Rui Campos said the partnership with Shoprite would combine deep retail scale with R&A Cellular's technology and prepaid expertise to accelerate financial inclusion.

"This partnership marks a transformational moment for R&A Cellular," Campos said. "By aligning with the Shoprite Group, we are combining deep retail scale with our technology and prepaid expertise to accelerate financial inclusion and unlock greater value for traders and communities."

The informal economy Shoprite is targeting is substantial and structurally underserved. GG Alcock, a recognized expert in South Africa's township economy, estimated the informal sector at between $46 billion (R750 billion) and $61 billion (R1 trillion). Standard Bank's Business and Commercial Banking arm independently valued the local township market at approximately $55.4 billion (R900 billion) in its first Township Informal Economy Report in 2025, confirming the scale of the opportunity.

Shoprite's Jean Olivier, general manager of financial services, said R&A Cellular was well-regarded in its market and had a strong management team. Following the acquisition, Shoprite plans to scale R&A Cellular's value-added services offering and integrate its own financial services products into the platform's catalogue.

Engelbrecht said Shoprite was focused on acquiring companies where specialist expertise, capacity and speed-to-market offered an advantage. "The transaction will enable the meaningful scaling of the R&A Cellular platform by expanding the installed device base nationally across informal retailers," he said. "These initiatives are expected to drive growth, deepen customer engagement, and extend the group's financial services reach into the informal sector."

The move builds on Shoprite's existing fintech infrastructure. The group already offers digital transaction accounts through its Money Market product, low-cost remittances and consumer credit. Its value-added services, ticketing and financial transaction commissions rose 9.6% to $84.3 million (R1.37 billion) in the year ended June 28.

Shoprite's flagship technology business, the Sixty60 on-demand grocery delivery platform, increased sales by 34.5% to $1.57 billion (R25.5 billion) during the same period. The group spent $418.5 million (R6.8 billion) in capital expenditure during the financial year, with a significant portion directed toward technology investments.

The R&A Cellular acquisition extends Shoprite's financial services reach into an economy that operates largely outside the formal banking system. Spaza shops and informal merchants serve millions of South Africans daily in townships and rural areas where conventional banking infrastructure is sparse or absent. By embedding financial services into that network through R&A Cellular's existing device base, Shoprite is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer for a market that established banks have largely failed to penetrate at scale.