KENYA · NAIROBI · INSURANCE
Key Facts
- —The new figure About KSh3 billion (about US$23.3 million) for Absa Group’s 63.32% stakes in First Assurance Kenya and Absa Life Assurance Kenya. Neither Absa nor the buyer has confirmed it.
- —The buyer First Assurance Investments Limited, a company linked to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Lamu Governor Issa Timamy, and already a shareholder in both insurers.
- —Earlier estimate In August the expected price was put at KSh3.8 billion (about US$29.5 million) or more, a figure for what Absa would seek rather than an agreed price.
- —The 2015 deal Barclays Africa, now Absa Group, agreed to pay KSh2.84 billion (about US$22.1 million) for about 63.3% of First Assurance. That included KSh722 million (about US$5.6 million) of new capital for the insurer itself.
- —Still pending The sale needs clearance from the Competition Authority of Kenya and approval from insurance regulators. The parties aim to close before the end of the financial year.
An investment company linked to Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has agreed to pay about KSh3 billion (about US$23.3 million) for South African lender Absa Group’s majority stakes in two Kenyan insurers, the Nairobi newspaper Business Daily reported on 18 October, citing several people familiar with the deal. Neither Absa nor the buyer has confirmed the figure, and the sale still needs clearance from the Competition Authority of Kenya.
For US readers, the deal shows a Johannesburg-listed bank, once part of Britain’s Barclays, handing two regulated insurers to a company tied to two serving politicians, the kind of ownership that US banks and investors must screen as politically exposed. The reported price is also well below the KSh3.8 billion (about US$29.5 million) that people close to the talks said in August Absa would seek.
Conversions use KSh128.84 per US dollar, the Friday 16 October close, for both current and 2015 figures. Older amounts are therefore shown in today’s dollars, not at the exchange rate of the time.
What Is New
Absa Group announced in August that it had signed a sale and purchase agreement with First Assurance Investments Limited for its entire 63.32% holding in First Assurance Company Limited and Absa Life Assurance Kenya Limited, without giving a price. Business Daily now reports that the parties have settled on about KSh3 billion (about US$23.3 million) for both stakes.
At that price, Business Daily calculates, the two insurers together are valued at KSh4.77 billion (about US$37.0 million). One person familiar with the transaction told the paper that the parties “aim to conclude the transaction before the end of the financial year.”
Absa said in August that customers’ products and services would not be affected and that Absa Bank Kenya would keep its existing arrangements to distribute the insurers’ products. That arrangement, known as bancassurance, lets a bank earn commissions on insurance without holding the underwriting risk on its own balance sheet.
Why the Numbers Differ
When The Rio Times first reported the sale on 15 August, it cited Kenyan business outlets’ estimate of about KSh3.8 billion (about US$29.5 million). Business Daily’s own August report described that figure as the minimum Absa would seek, so the new KSh3 billion (about US$23.3 million) points to a lower agreed price rather than a correction of a known one.
The 2015 figures differ because they count different things. The Rio Times’ August report used Business Daily’s 2015 total of about KSh2.9 billion (about US$22.5 million), which added about KSh700 million (about US$5.4 million) of new capital for the insurer to the roughly KSh2.2 billion (about US$17.1 million) paid to the selling shareholders.
Barclays Africa’s own announcement in June 2015 put the net consideration at KSh2.84 billion (about US$22.1 million), including a capital injection of KSh722 million (about US$5.6 million) into First Assurance. On those official numbers the sellers received roughly KSh2.1 billion (about US$16.4 million), close to the KSh2.2 billion (about US$17.1 million) that Business Daily now cites as the 2015 price.
On those numbers, the buyers would pay about 40% more in shillings than they received eleven years ago, by our calculation. The comparison is rough, because the 2026 sale also covers Absa Life, which grew from a life insurer Barclays set up itself in 2015 and which took over First Assurance’s life business in 2019, and it makes no allowance for inflation or currency moves.
Who Is Involved
Absa Group is a Johannesburg-based banking group, known as Barclays Africa Group when it bought into First Assurance, and it controls the Nairobi-listed Absa Bank Kenya. It has already sold its insurance underwriting businesses in Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique, and says it now relies on selling partners’ policies through its banks.
Musalia Mudavadi is Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary, the senior minister who coordinates government business, and a former vice-president. Business Daily’s search of the company registry found that First Assurance Investments is 52.5% owned by Syndicate Nominees, a company Mudavadi said he owned at his 2022 vetting, and 47.5% owned by Exclusive Holding Limited, a firm associated with Issa Timamy, the governor of Lamu County.
The two men led the Amani National Congress, Mudavadi as party leader and Timamy as his deputy, before the party dissolved to merge with President William Ruto’s ruling United Democratic Alliance. First Assurance, a general insurer, traces its roots to 1930, and Absa Life was the first life insurer in Kenya to sell through a bank partnership, according to Business Daily.
What It Means for US Readers
For US investors in African banks, the deal is another sign that lenders want insurance fees without insurance risk. Absa is keeping the distribution and selling the balance-sheet exposure, the same pattern it followed in three other African markets.
For US companies and banks that deal with Kenyan financial firms, ownership matters. Insurers whose controlling owner belongs to a sitting senior minister and a governor trigger politically exposed person checks under standard anti-money-laundering rules, which means more paperwork and closer review for correspondent banks, reinsurers and corporate clients.
Kenya’s insurance market remains small, with premiums equal to 2.63% of the economy in 2025 according to Insurance Regulatory Authority data, which is why investors still see room to grow. The price paid for these two firms will be one of the few public benchmarks for what Kenyan insurers are worth.
What Is Not Known
The KSh3 billion (about US$23.3 million) price comes from unnamed people familiar with the deal, and neither Absa Group nor First Assurance Investments has published it. It is also not known how the price is split between the general insurer and the life insurer.
The Rio Times found no published decision on the deal by the Competition Authority of Kenya or by the Insurance Regulatory Authority. It is also not known whether either regulator will attach conditions because of the buyers’ political roles.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the Mudavadi-linked company paying Absa?
About KSh3 billion (about US$23.3 million), according to people familiar with the deal quoted by Business Daily. Neither side has confirmed the figure.
Why did earlier reports give a higher price?
In August, people close to the talks said Absa would seek at least KSh3.8 billion (about US$29.5 million). The new figure suggests the agreed price came in lower.
What did Barclays Africa pay in 2015?
It agreed to a net consideration of KSh2.84 billion (about US$22.1 million) for about 63.3% of First Assurance. That sum included KSh722 million (about US$5.6 million) of new capital for the insurer, so the sellers received roughly KSh2.1 billion (about US$16.4 million).
Who owns the buyer?
First Assurance Investments is 52.5% owned by Syndicate Nominees, which Musalia Mudavadi declared as his, and 47.5% by Exclusive Holding Limited, associated with Lamu Governor Issa Timamy. Those shareholdings come from a company registry search published by Business Daily.
Is the deal final?
No, not yet. It still needs clearance from the Competition Authority of Kenya and approval from insurance regulators.
Sources: Barclays Africa Group, announcement on acquiring a controlling interest in First Assurance, June 2015 (as published by FAnews), Capital FM Business, Barclays acquires First Assurance controlling stake, June 2015, Business Daily, report on the agreed price, 18 October 2026, Business Daily, Mudavadi group to acquire insurance firms from Absa, August 2026, Kenyan Wall Street, Absa and First Assurance deal, 14 August 2026, Competition Authority of Kenya, latest determinations, Business Daily, Barclays Life Assurance Kenya takes over First Assurance life business, March 2019, Business Daily, Insurance Regulatory Authority data on 2025 penetration, 4 September 2026, The Standard, IRA 2025 industry statistics, 3 September 2026. All retrieved 19 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief