Five of Africa's largest banking groups collectively deployed USD 537 million across seven transactions in 2025, according to an analysis by Businessfront published in December 2025. The figures cover disclosed deal values and span both cross-border acquisitions and domestic bolt-on purchases.
FIRSTRAND AND ACCESS BANK LEAD DEAL SPENDING
FirstRand accounted for the largest share of disclosed acquisition spending among the five banks tracked in the Businessfront analysis, committing USD 279 million to acquire a 20% stake in Optasia, a UAE-based digital finance platform with operations across Africa. Access Bank completed four cross-border transactions, three of which had a combined disclosed value of USD 125 million.
Nedbank's USD 94 million acquisition of iKhokha, a South African payments business, represented the largest single domestic transaction among the five groups. Capitec, South Africa's largest retail bank by customer count, made a USD 23.5 million purchase of Walletdoc, while Kenya's KCB Group agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Riverbank Solutions for about USD 15 million, pending regulatory approval. Walletdoc is a Johannesburg-based payments fintech focused on online and in-app payments, in a deal worth up to R400 million.