Access Bank will acquire NBK by buying its shares from KCB Group PLC, which has controlled the bank fully since 2019, according to a statement issued by the CBK on Monday.
In compliance with Section 13(4) of the Banking Act, the CBK approved this transaction on April 4, 2025. As required by Section 9 of the same Act, additional approval was subsequently granted on April 10, 2025, by the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning.
recognizes that KCB Bank Kenya Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of the KCB Group, will receive certain of NBK’s assets and liabilities as part of the acquisition. Additionally, the Cabinet Secretary and the CBK have approved this transfer.
According to the agreement between Access Bank and KCB Group, the purchase and transfer of NBK’s assets and liabilities shall take effect after the transaction is completed successfully.
The National Bank of Kenya was founded in 1968 as a fully government-owned organization with the intention of promoting local economic empowerment in the years following independence and making credit more accessible to Kenyans.
After being purchased by KCB Group in September 2019, NBK has been operated as a subsidiary together with other financial service companies, such as NBK Bancassurance Intermediary Limited.
Access Bank and KCB Group signed a legally binding contract in March 2024 to buy out National Bank of Kenya Limited in its entirety.
NBK is currently owned exclusively by Access Bank PLC, a division of the Nigerian financial behemoth Access Holdings PLC. In recent years, the group has made great progress in growing its footprint throughout Africa and beyond.
The bank currently has operations in over a dozen African countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Mozambique, Zambia, and the United Kingdom. It also has representative offices in China, Lebanon, and India.
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