Nedbank has completed its R13.9 billion purchase of 66% of NCBA Group, the Nairobi-listed Tier 1 bank, with all regulatory approvals now in hand, according to Moneyweb, which reported the Monday evening announcement on 19 October 2026. The deal, first announced on 21 January 2026, gives the JSE-listed bank control of a lender with more than 60 million customers across East Africa.
For a South African business, nothing changes overnight. Nedbank currently has only a representative office in East Africa, so no operational integration is required, and NCBA keeps its own brand, governance and local leadership. If your company trades with Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania or Rwanda, or plans to, the practical step is to ask your Nedbank relationship manager what, if anything, will be offered across the two banks. Neither bank has announced new cross-border products.
What was announced
Moneyweb reports that the transaction was funded by roughly R3 billion in cash plus newly issued Nedbank shares given to NCBA shareholders. Nedbank’s own transaction page says that once the offer is complete, Nedbank will hold 66% of NCBA and public investors on the Nairobi Securities Exchange the remaining 34%. NCBA stays listed in Nairobi.
The offer was structured as a partial pro rata offer for 1,087,362,891 NCBA ordinary shares, according to the same page. It opened on 28 May 2026 and closed on 10 July 2026. Innovation Village, reporting the offer result in July, said holders tendered 1,316,357,895 shares, or 79.9% of NCBA’s issued stock, well above the 66% Nedbank wanted. It said the consideration was about 43.6 million new Nedbank shares plus KES23.2 billion in cash, which it put at about R3 billion at an exchange rate of 7.84 on 20 July 2026.
Moneyweb quotes Nedbank Group chief executive Jason Quinn as saying: “This landmark transaction establishes a significant presence for Nedbank in East Africa and marks a decisive step forward in our African growth strategy.” NCBA Group chief executive John Gachora is quoted calling it “a proud moment for NCBA”.
The approvals path
Nedbank’s timeline shows the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya granted an exemption from having to make a mandatory takeover offer on 23 February 2026. Moneyweb reports that the Central Bank of Kenya approved the transaction on 1 September. Sunday World reported the Central Bank of Kenya approval on 31 August 2026, citing a Nedbank update to investors, so the exact date is reported slightly differently by the two outlets.
Other approvals came earlier. Innovation Village listed approvals from the Prudential Authority and the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank, along with regulators in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania and the East African Community Competition Authority. Business Daily reported that the COMESA Competition Commission and the East African Community Competition Authority had both approved the deal unconditionally.
What NCBA is
According to Nedbank, NCBA operates across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Ghana, with a digital approach in the last two. It has 122 branches and serves more than 60 million customers. Nedbank puts NCBA’s assets at KES665 billion, or about R84.4 billion, and says it has delivered an average return on equity of about 19% since 2021. Moneyweb describes it as Africa’s largest banking group by customer numbers, a ranking that rests on that outlet’s description and which we have not seen independently confirmed.
BusinessTech reported in March 2026 that NCBA was formed in 2019 through the merger of NIC Group and Commercial Bank of Africa. It quoted Nedbank chief financial officer Mike Davis saying East Africa’s markets are set to grow by 5% or more in 2026, while South Africa is expected to reach around 1.5%. That growth gap is the core of Nedbank’s argument. The bank says East Africa has a large and growing population and is the main trade corridor linking Africa with the Middle East, India and Asia.
Where this leaves Nedbank among the big banks
Anchor Capital analyst Keagan Higgins told Moneyweb the announcement was “really just confirmation of what was already expected”. He said Nedbank has historically had a much smaller African footprint than Standard Bank and Absa, and that NCBA gives it an established presence in Kenya without building one from scratch. Moneyweb notes that Absa operates in 11 countries outside South Africa and Standard Bank in 21 African markets.
Higgins also linked the deal to Nedbank’s exit from Ecobank. BusinessTech reported that Nedbank sold its Ecobank Transnational Incorporated stake for $100 million, and Higgins said Nedbank now controls a profitable business instead of holding a minority stake in a much broader group. In his words, the deal “does not suddenly put Nedbank on the same footing as its larger peers across Africa, but it is a meaningful step in that direction.”
For a side-by-side look at how the major lenders differ, see our comparison of South Africa’s biggest banks.
What to watch
- Whether Nedbank’s corporate and investment banking clients are offered East African trade finance, foreign exchange or cash management through NCBA. Nedbank says its corporate and investment banking skills complement NCBA’s strengths, but it has not announced specific products.
- Nedbank’s next results, where NCBA’s contribution to earnings and capital will first show.
- Whether NCBA’s management, which Nedbank says will keep making local decisions, expands into new countries. BusinessTech reported that Davis said that choice sits with NCBA’s team.
