Absa exits Kenya’s insurance market as Mudavadi-linked investors take full control
Yusuf Omari, Absa Bank Kenya Managing Director and CEO. PHOTO/@AbsaKenya/X
Absa Group has completed the sale of its entire stake in First Assurance Holdings to First Assurance Investments Limited, ending an 11-year ownership chapter and returning the two insurers to Kenyan hands in a deal estimated at KSh3.8B.
By Grace Wanja
Absa Group has completed the full transfer of its shareholding in First Assurance Holdings Limited to First Assurance Investments Limited, ending the South African banking group’s decade-long ownership of two established Kenyan insurers and handing full control to a local investment vehicle linked to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The transaction, which received regulatory approval before closing, covers Absa’s entire 63.32% stake in First Assurance Company Limited and Absa Life Assurance Kenya Limited, ending an 11-year ownership period in the two insurers. Following the transfer, First Assurance Company Limited will rebrand as First Assurance General, while Absa Life Assurance Kenya Limited will operate under the new name First Assurance Life. Both businesses will carry the designation “Formerly an Absa Group Company” for six months before the full brand transition is complete.
The ownership structure of the acquiring vehicle gives the deal a notable political dimension. First Assurance Investments is owned 52.5% by Syndicate Nominees and 47.5% by Exclusive Holding. Mudavadi disclosed ownership of Syndicate Nominees during his parliamentary vetting in 2022, and his combined interests through investment vehicles and direct holdings give him an estimated effective stake of approximately 21% in First Assurance. Regulatory filings and court documents also show that Lamu Governor Issa Timamy is a director and shareholder of First Assurance Investments Limited.
For the acquiring group, the transaction completes a full circle. First Assurance Investments already held a minority stake in the two firms, so the deal effectively returns full ownership to the local shareholder Absa first partnered with when it entered the Kenyan insurance market — buying back shares originally sold to Barclays Africa, Absa’s predecessor, in 2015 for KSh2.2B. The acquisition price is now reported at KSh3B, representing a substantial premium on the original disposal, though neither party has formally confirmed the figure.
For Absa, the exit reflects a broader strategic repositioning. The deal comes as the Johannesburg-based group simultaneously increases its stake in Absa Bank Kenya to 85% from 68.5% in a separate KSh30.9B transaction, signalling a deliberate pivot towards banking rather than insurance manufacturing in the Kenyan market. The distribution relationship between the two insurers and Absa Bank Kenya will, however, remain intact — meaning Absa’s customers will continue to access First Assurance products through the bank’s network even as ownership formally changes hands.
Githanji Waiguru, Managing Director of Absa Life Assurance Kenya, and Stephen Lokonyo, Managing Director of First Assurance Company, signed the public announcement confirming the completion. “We would like to assure all our customers, policyholders and stakeholders that our products and services are not affected by this transaction,” the two executives stated.
First Assurance Life ranks as Kenya’s seventh-largest life insurer, while First Assurance General occupies the 13th position in the general insurance segment. Both businesses trace their roots to 1930 and carry a client base that spans individual policyholders, corporates and institutional accounts. For those customers, the message from both sides of the transaction is continuity — different owners, same cover.
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