Shoprite has secured unconditional Competition Tribunal approval to acquire majority control of R&A Cellular, a point-of-sale platform serving South Africa’s informal retail sector, after announcing the planned deal on 16 March 2026. The Tribunal approved the merger between Shoprite Financial Services Ltd and R&A Cellular without conditions on 7 April 2026, according to an official Tribunal order.
R&A Cellular’s platform enables informal traders to sell prepaid airtime and electricity, gaming and entertainment products, and accept card-based payments at spaza shop tills across the country. Shoprite, through its corporate newsroom, described the acquisition as an extension of its Money Market financial services ecosystem into townships and peri-urban areas where informal merchants operate.
"This partnership marks a transformational moment for R&A Cellular," said Rui Campos, founder and CEO of R&A Cellular, in a statement published on Shoprite’s newsroom. Campos added that aligning with the Shoprite Group would combine retail scale with prepaid expertise to accelerate financial inclusion for traders and communities across South Africa.
Jean Olivier, General Manager for Financial Services at the Shoprite Group, said the acquisition would broaden access to essential services for communities reliant on informal retailers. "By combining our scale in everyday financial services with R&A Cellular’s established presence in the informal retail space, we are creating a practical way to expand access to essential services, lower barriers to participation and support the communities that rely on informal retailers every day," Olivier said in the same statement.
TechCentral, which first reported the deal as Shoprite’s bet on the spaza till, described the transaction as a strategic push into the informal retail economy. The exact purchase price and percentage stake were not disclosed in any of the official sources reviewed, including the Shoprite newsroom announcement and the Tribunal order.
The deal positions Shoprite to deepen its footprint in the township financial services space, where millions of South Africans transact daily through spaza shops rather than formal banking channels. The informal retail sector has become an increasingly contested space for large retailers and fintech companies seeking to capture underserved markets across the country.
MarketScreener independently reported the acquisition, corroborating the informal-sector focus described by Shoprite and R&A Cellular. The Competition Tribunal publicly highlighted the approval in a merger alert on 9 April 2026, confirming that no conditions were attached to the clearance.
What remains unknown is how quickly Shoprite will integrate R&A Cellular’s network into its broader Money Market ecosystem and whether the deal will prompt further consolidation among point-of-sale providers serving informal traders. Cape Flats News journalist Thabo Mokoena will check for updates on operational integration by the end of April 2026.