- Nedbank offloads $100 million stake in Ecobank to Bosquet Investments
- The sale comes as Ecobank pushes deeper into AI and cloud technology
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s Nedbank has sold its 21.22% stake in Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI) for $100 million to Bosquet Investments Limited, a private investment vehicle owned by Cameroonian businessman Alain Nkontchou.
The deal, still subject to regulatory approval, will make Bosquet the largest shareholder in the pan-African banking group. Nkontchou already owns a 2.86% stake in ETI with his brother Cyrille through their firm Enko Capital.
“Bosquet Investments manages more than $1 billion in assets and funds across Africa,” law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said. Nkontchou has sat on ETI’s board since 2014 and served as chairman between 2020 and 2024.
ETI, headquartered in Lomé, Togo, controls Ecobank, which operates in 35 African countries.
Betting on AI and digital transformation
Ecobank shareholders in May approved a $250 million fundraising to finance its new strategic direction, which includes investing heavily in artificial intelligence and cloud technology.
The bank later announced a partnership with Google Cloud to bolster analytics and expand digital banking across the continent. The collaboration, Ecobank said, will enable “frictionless, secure, and universally accessible” services.
Ecobank CEO Jeremy Awori said the bank is “looking at how this changes the way we do business because with generative AI…so you’ll be seeing a business that is fundamentally changed.”
Bosquet’s acquisition signals confidence in that digital push at a time when African businesses are increasingly adopting AI. A recent survey of 203 banks across 40 African countries showed 68% prioritise efficiency, 56% invest in infrastructure to reach underserved areas, and 41% worry about cybersecurity – areas where AI is seen as a potential solution.
For Ecobank, Nkontchou’s deeper involvement marks continuity in a long-standing relationship at a time of regulatory tightening in Nigeria and Ghana that unsettled some investors, including Nedbank.
Despite that, Ecobank has strengthened its funding base, raising more than $520 million in Eurobond markets in the year to March 2025.
Nedbank shifts focus
Nedbank’s exit from Ecobank coincides with its $94 million acquisition of South African fintech firm iKhokha, which develops digital payment tools and has processed over $1 billion in annual transactions while extending $170 million in SME funding.
The bank said the deal will expand its footprint in southern Africa’s small-and-medium enterprise sector and advance its digital banking ambitions.
Nedbank, which serves more than 7 million clients across Africa, reported a 15.2% return on equity and a 26% rise in comprehensive income in the first half of 2025.
