Standard Bank Eyes NCBA Acquisition as Hisa Merges with Chaka in Pan-African Deals - October 2025

Standard Bank Group is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Kenya’s NCBA Group through its local subsidiary, Stanbic Holdings, in a potential merger that would create Kenya's third-largest lender with assets of approximately KES 1.1 trillion ($8.5 billion). In a separate deal, Hisa Kenya is merging with Nigeria’s Chaka to form a single "super app" allowing investments across Kenyan, Nigerian, and U.S. markets. This relaunch follows a year of neglect for the current Hisa app. Additionally, Vertiv has partnered with Airtel Africa’s Nxtra division for a major data center expansion, starting with a 42MW facility in Nigeria. Announced at GITEX Global 2025, this collaboration aims to build one of the continent's largest networks of high-capacity data centers.