Kenya has overtaken Nigeria to become Africa’s leading market for mergers and acquisitions by value, after deal value in the country surged 670.5 per cent year-on-year to $1.44 billion in the first half of 2026, according to a new report by DealMakers Africa.
The jump lifted Kenya from sixth position in the first half of last year to the top spot this year, marking a sharp reversal for Nigeria, which had held the number one ranking by value in four of the past six years.
Nigeria’s M&A value, by contrast, collapsed 88.9 per cent to just $105.8 million in the same period, its weakest first-half showing in nearly a decade, even though the country still recorded the highest number of individual transactions on the continent.
Kenya closed 25 deals over the period, against Nigeria’s 39, meaning Kenya attracted almost eight times more capital while completing roughly a third fewer transactions, a gap DealMakers said highlights a widening divide between how many deals a market produces and how much capital investors are actually willing to commit to them.
One transaction did much of the heavy lifting behind Kenya’s numbers; : South African lender Nedbank’s proposed acquisition of a 66 per cent stake in NCBA Group, valued at roughly $855 million, which was a transaction that DealMakers ranked as the second-largest deal announced anywhere on the continent in the first quarter.
The deal reflects a broader pattern of African banking groups moving to consolidate their positions in higher-growth markets, as tightening regulatory and capital requirements push smaller institutions toward larger, better-capitalised partners.
Kenya’s appeal to outside investors was reinforced by other deals too, including KCB Group’s move to acquire a majority stake in fintech firm Riverbank Solutions, a transaction aimed at strengthening the bank’s digital banking capabilities.
The shift played out against a softer continental backdrop overall. Across Africa as a whole, excluding South Africa, M&A activity fell 10 per cent year-on-year to $5.58 billion in the first half of 2026, while the total number of transactions dropped by around 13 per cent to 166 deals. DealMakers Africa editor Marylou Greig said the figures point to investors becoming more selective rather than pulling back entirely.
“Strategic investors continued to pursue long-term growth opportunities despite a more measured global investment environment, but geopolitical developments have heightened uncertainty and prompted buyers and investors to adopt a more cautious approach to transactions in the region,” she said.
Kenya’s rise fits into a broader pattern of the country pulling ahead of Nigeria across several measures of investor interest over the past year, not only in M&A activity but also in venture capital funding, where Kenya has increasingly out-drawn its West African rival on the strength of large cheques directed at its clean-energy sector.
Regionally, West Africa remained the most active part of the continent by sheer deal volume in the first half of 2026, accounting for 55 transactions, roughly a third of all reported activity, followed by East Africa with 39 deals and North Africa with 34.
Even amid a more cautious overall investment climate, Africa’s natural resources continued to draw strong strategic interest, with upstream energy and mining transactions in Angola, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea alone contributing a combined $1.21 billion to the continent’s total deal value.
