Author: Muindi

Absa closes in on a deal that would reshape Tanzania’s banking sector, merging its two local units into the country’s third largest lender. Absa Group is nearing an agreement to combine its two banking businesses in Tanzania, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the talks remain private. The South African lender wants to build scale in East Africa, a region growing faster than its home market. So it is consolidating rather than expanding through new licenses. How the deal would work National Bank of Commerce, which Absa owns 55% of alongside a…

Nedbank Group closed its offer to acquire 66% of NCBA Group on 10 July 2026, and Kenyan shareholders responded with far more shares than the South African lender needs. Tenders covered 1.316 billion shares, equal to 79.90% of NCBA’s issued capital, pushing the offer well past its target and forcing Nedbank to scale down what it ultimately accepts. Why the Offer Ended Up Oversubscribed NCBA shareholders could tender up to 66% of their holdings automatically under the pro rata entitlement. Many went further. Shareholders submitted pro rata acceptances covering 920.7 million shares, or 55.88% of the bank, then layered on…

Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) is stepping up its expansion across East Africa with plans to open offices in Tanzania and Rwanda. The reinsurer has invited bids to lease office space in Dar es Salaam and Kigali. It is also seeking a consultant to help set up a liaison office in Rwanda, a signal that the Kigali presence will need more groundwork before it becomes fully operational. The tender for office space in Dar es Salaam closes on August 7, 2026. The Kigali leasing tender and the consultancy tender are both scheduled to close later the same month. Kenya Re…

Safaricom has found its answer to the vacancy left by Esther Waititu’s resignation, at least for now. Boniface Mungania, currently Director of Public Sector Digital Transformation, will step in as interim Chief Financial Services Officer, taking over a division that anchors both M-Pesa’s revenue and Safaricom’s push into financial inclusion. The appointment keeps the role inside a small circle of executives who have shaped M-Pesa’s growth from the ground up, rather than bringing in an outsider during a period of leadership turnover at the top of the company. A Career Built Inside M-Pesa Mungania describes himself as experienced in digital…

Kenya’s supermarket sector is on the move, and two chains are pulling in opposite directions on scale while chasing the same prize: shoppers closer to home. Uchumi Supermarkets has opened a new branch in Kitengela, growing its network to three outlets, while Naivas has pushed past 110 stores nationwide with a fresh opening in Ruiru. Both moves point to a retail market pivoting away from large regional malls toward neighbourhood shopping. Uchumi Rebuilds With A Third Branch Uchumi opened its Kitengela branch, at Shell Yukos, earlier this month, joining its Langata outlet on Carnivore Way and its Unicity branch near…

South Sudan just told most of its neighbours to pay up at the border. Juba’s Interior Ministry has rewritten its visa policy, and the new rules land unevenly across a region that has spent a decade talking about open borders. Egyptians and Tanzanians walk in free. Everyone else, including citizens of Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, now needs a single entry visa priced at 100 dollars, though the ministry has carved out discounted rates for those three neighbours specifically. South Sudan sits inside the East African Community, a bloc built on the promise of free movement, and…