(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Standard Bank Group has set aside KES 166.7 billion ($1.03 billion / GBP 812 million) for investments across its African markets, as the South African lender seeks to deepen its presence in Kenya and the wider East African region.
The funds were disclosed by Standard Bank chief executive Sim Tshabalala during a presentation of the bank’s financial results for the first half of 2026.
Mr Tshabalala visited Kenya at the end of August, his second trip to the country this year, where he said the bank aims to grow in the region by expanding its internal business. He did not rule out growth through acquisitions despite the preference for organic expansion.
Standard Bank’s increased focus on East Africa forms part of a wider shift into the region by South African lenders. Nedbank Group is completing the acquisition of a 66% stake in NCBA Group, while Absa Group recently bid for an additional 16.5% stake in its Kenyan subsidiary.
Standard Bank was previously linked to an acquisition of NCBA in 2025 before Nedbank made its offer in January 2026.
“We currently have 21 billion rand (KES 166.7 billion / $1.03 billion / GBP 812 million) available for investments in acquisitions and partnerships, dividends, and share buybacks, providing optionality and supporting distributions to shareholders,” said Mr Tshabalala.
“We continue to see significant opportunities to expand and deepen our position across Africa and will selectively invest where we have clear competitive advantages and strong prospects for value creation.”
He added that the bank injected $80 million (KES 10.4 billion / GBP 63 million) of additional capital into Tanzania in July 2026 and plans to increase its shareholding in its Angola unit before the end of this year.
Mr Tshabalala said East Africa offers growth opportunities that Standard Bank intends to pursue.
“There is great interest in Kenya and in East Africa. As you know, our competitors, both South African and international, are here often, and that speaks to something special happening in Kenya and East Africa,” Mr Tshabalala told the Business Daily during his August visit.
“This is an economy that has been growing at about 5% since the early 2000s as a consequence of the fact that the economy is diversifying; it is a great logistics hub and entry point into the region, and third is that it forms part of an interesting crescent of that trade route in between Egypt, the Gulf States and the Indian Ocean.”
South African rivals Absa Group and Nedbank have already committed KES 116.5 billion ($720 million / GBP 568 million) to the Kenyan market through recent acquisition moves.
In August, Absa Group raised its stake in Absa Bank Kenya from 68.5% to 72% in a KES 6.53 billion ($40.4 million / GBP 31.8 million) deal, after existing shareholders agreed to sell 189.4 million shares in its tender offer. The bank had sought to buy a 16.5% stake, or 895.9 million shares, which would have lifted its holding to 85% if fully subscribed.
Nedbank is on course to complete its KES 110 billion ($680 million / GBP 536 million) acquisition of a 66% stake in NCBA before the end of the year, after receiving regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Kenya.