Equity Bank is pursuing a return to Mozambique six years after abandoning an earlier attempt to enter the market.
Group CEO James Mwangi confirmed the renewed push on March 26, 2026, crediting a direct introduction by President William Ruto during a State Lunch at State House, Nairobi.
President Ruto hosted Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo ahead of a three-day State Visit to Kenya. Mwangi attended the lunch and described how Ruto personally facilitated the introduction.
“On Thursday, I was very privileged to be invited to the State Lunch, and when the President walked in with his guests, the President of Mozambique, the first business of the order was to come close to where I was seated and introduce me, and said, ‘Open the door for this young man, we establish Equity in Mozambique,'” Mwangi said.
Kenya’s Equity Group has revived plans to venture into Mozambique.
Equity’s Dr. James Mwangi says he has secured an appointment towards this on April 27th following President William Ruto’s intervention during the latest visit by Mozambique’s President.
Equity previously… pic.twitter.com/NnrpbS1hAx
— Julians Amboko (@AmbokoJH) March 28, 2026
The introduction secured Mwangi a follow-up business meeting scheduled for April 27, 2026. He noted that without presidential backing, gaining access at that level in a foreign market would ordinarily require the intervention of a High Commissioner or ambassador.
Investment Agreements Frame the Visit
Ruto used the occasion to outline Kenya’s trade agenda with Mozambique. “We are strengthening our trade and economic cooperation, building on the progress already achieved while unlocking untapped and underutilised opportunities. We are also addressing barriers to trade, tariff and non-tariff, to facilitate greater trade and investment between our two nations,” he said.
Kenya and Mozambique signed investment agreements worth KES 387 billion across several sectors at the Fourth International Investment Conference held during the visit. The agreements cover investments in counties including Mombasa, Bungoma, Uasin Gishu, Kericho, Nakuru, Nairobi, Kiambu, and Tana River. Investors from nearly 10 countries, including India, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, participated alongside Kenyan businesses.
Mozambican President Chapo noted that Kenya and Mozambique have signed 20 memoranda of understanding over the years. He confirmed that the two countries mutually recognise each other’s driving licences and said Mozambican athletes will use the sports cooperation agreement to train in Kenya.
Hosted President Daniel Francisco Chapo of Mozambique at State House, Nairobi. We witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements and MoUs on diplomatic training, research and capacity building, correctional services, as well as youth development and sports collaboration. pic.twitter.com/DqHKOGzsaw
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) March 26, 2026
A Second Attempt at Market Entry
Equity’s interest in Mozambique is not new. The bank began talks in April 2018 to acquire Atlas Mara subsidiaries in Rwanda, Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania but failed to reach an agreement before the deal’s terms expired in January 2020. Freedom House Management formally abandoned the acquisition in June 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on risk assessment and its decision to preserve capital and liquidity.
Under the original terms, Equity would have acquired a 62% stake in Banque Populaire du Rwanda and Atlas Mara’s banking subsidiaries in Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique. In exchange, Atlas Mara was to receive a 6.3% equity stake in Equity Group, representing 252.2 million shares valued at approximately $105.4 million at the time. The Mozambique portion of that deal subsequently went to Nigeria’s Access Bank.
Equity’s Current Footprint
Equity Group currently operates across seven countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia, where it holds a Commercial Representative Office. The group targets expansion to 15 countries and 100 million customers by 2030.
Regional subsidiaries now contribute approximately half of the group’s total banking profit, with the DRC, Uganda, and Tanzania recording growth in 2024 and 2025. Mozambique, if the entry proceeds, would add an eighth operating market and extend the group’s presence into Southern Africa for the first time.
The April 27 meeting will determine whether the renewed Mozambique push advances beyond a presidential introduction into a formal market entry process.
