SHOPRITE IN TALKS TO SELL OUT SHOPS IN KAMPALA

Only month after the sale of Shoprite’s assets in Tanzania to regional retailer Nakumatt, the South African retail giant is alleged to be involved in ongoing talks with Nakumatt about a takeover of its three outlets in Kampala.

This would see an end of its 15 years in operations in Uganda, during which time the firm set up three of five planned outlets in Kampala.

Nakumatt Holdings Managing Director, Atul Shah said information on the deal would be made public if and when an agreeable position was reached.

“At this point, we are not in a position to disclose specific details on the Shoprite expression of interest. We shall, however, provide such information in due course once we reach a suitable agreement,” said Mr. Shah.

If the deal is closed, Nakumatt will widen its footprint in East Africa bringing its total number of outlets to 51, with plans to establish more operations in Burundi and South Sudan within the next three years.

Last month, Shoprite completed the sale of two of its outlets in Dar es Salaam and one in Arusha to Nakumatt at an estimated cost of $ 45 million, following approval from Tanzania’s market regulator.

Analysts are divided over the reasons for Shoprite’s sudden haste to leave East Africa. While some blame the retailer’s business model, which largely positioned it as a vendor for South African manufactures, others point to the aggressive emergence of homegrown competition.