All 25 outlets of food retailer Shoprite in Nigeria have been shut down by workers, who are currently embarking on an industrial action over the sale of the company to Tayo Amusan’s Jara.

The contract papers signed by staff show that many of them were to work with Shoprite South Africa until between 2035 and 2040. But with the current management set to exit in June, the staff demanded to be paid off rather than run the risk of sack after they’re transferred to a new Nigerian company — a demand Shoprite has been uninterested in.

In August 2020, Shoprite announced the commencement of a formal process to discontinue its operations in Nigeria “following approaches from various potential investors, and in line with our re-evaluation of the group’s operating model in Nigeria”.

Shoprite Nigeria operates about 25 outlets across the country and employs over 2,000 employees, a substantial number of whom are Nigerians.

Amusan, meanwhile, owns Persianas Nigeria Limited, a property development company he founded in 1990. In 2004, he launched, The Palms. Owing to the success of The Palms in Lagos, he floated three additional malls in Enugu, Kwara, Ota and Ibadan.