Nedbank eyes East Africa expansion with R14bn deal to buy stake in Kenya multinational

The Nedbank Group has announced its intention to acquire a majority stake in NCBA Group, one of East Africa’s leading financial services groups.

It has submitted an offer to acquire 66% of the Kenyan group, with NCBA then becoming a subsidiary of Nedbank in a deal reportedly worth R14 billion.

The remaining 34% of NCBA shares would continue to trade publicly on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The proposed consideration will be structured as 20% cash portion and 80% new Nedbank ordinary shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Nedbank said.

Headquartered in Nairobi, NCBA operates across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda;, and offers digital banking services in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Nedbank Group CEO Jason Quinn said the proposed acquisition represents a milestone in Nedbank’s strategy to grow its southern and East African footprint:

"By combining NCBA’s substantial local presence and Nedbank’s capital base, expertise and enduring commitment to Africa, we see a compelling platform for sustainable growth in the region."

Stephen Grootes talks to banking expert Kokkie Kooyman (Denker Capital) about the strategy driving the Nedbank plan.

Kooyman revisits Nedbank's limited history on the continent, saying the rationale makes sense considering the position they find themselves in.

"Go back about 12 years, and Nedbank was very much a corporate bank and not so much retail... whilst Standard Bank had been growing in Africa and Absa started going that route as well, and Nedbank did not have much except in Namibia, Swaziland and so on."

What followed was Nedbank's acquisition of a minority stake in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, which in August 2025 it decided to sell.

"That never really worked out, because with around 21% they didn't have control and finally last year under a new CEO they sold that."

With a very limited presence in Africa and now a large cash amount coming in, Kooyman says, Nedbank is starting to do acquisitions on the continent.

He highlights the reason why South African banks are growing and dominating in Africa - "In SA itself really the growth rate has been quite poor and the countries north of our borders have all been growing at a much faster rate, so you're actually going into growth countries like Kenya."

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from banking expert Kokkie Kooyman