Absa Group agrees to sell 63.32% stake in First Assurance, Absa Life Assurance

Absa Group has agreed to sell its majority stakes in Absa Life Assurance Kenya and First Assurance Kenya Limited as the lender retreats from direct insurance ownership across Africa.

PWBy: Ian
IN BRIEF:
  • Absa Group has agreed to sell its 63.32 per cent stakes in Absa Life Kenya and First Assurance Kenya exiting direct insurance ownership in Kenya.
  • The disposal is part of Absa’s broader shift towards bancassurance, allowing it to earn insurance income through its banking network.
South Africa’s Absa Group Limited has agreed to sell its majority stakes in Absa Life Assurance Kenya and First Assurance Kenya Limited, as the lender retreats from direct insurance ownership across Africa.
The Johannesburg-based lender said on Thursday it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with First Assurance Investments Limited, an existing shareholder in both companies, for its entire stake in the two insurance firms.
“Absa Group Limited has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with First Assurance Investments Limited, an existing shareholder of First Assurance Company Limited and Absa Life Assurance Kenya Limited for the sale of Absa's entire stake in the two businesses,” the group said in a statement.
Absa holds 63.32 per cent stake in each insurer, with the transaction expected to transfer control to First Assurance Investments.
The transaction comes as Absa reshapes its African insurance strategy, moving away from direct ownership of insurers and towards bancassurance partnerships that enable its banks to distribute insurance products.
The lender said existing distribution relationship with Absa Bank Kenya plc will continue.
Absa Bank Kenya Plc, through its wholly owned subsidiary Absa Bancassurance Intermediary Limited, reported Sh2.18 billion in bancassurance income and a net profit of Sh1.39 billion for the year ended December 2025.
Absa Life Assurance (Kenya) Limited generated Sh10 billion in gross premium income, equivalent to a 4.26 per cent share of the life insurance market, placing it eighth among life insurers in Kenya.
First Assurance (Kenya) Limited, meanwhile, posted Sh7.3 billion in gross premium income and accounted for 3.2 per cent of the general insurance market, ranking it 13th among general insurers.
The disposal follows Absa Group’s Sh30.9 billion move to raise its stake in Absa Bank Kenya to 85 per cent from 68.5 per cent.

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