British banks’ exit from Africa fuels 31 mergers in Comesa bloc
StanChart Bank. Between 2021 and 2025, the UK financial conglomerate Atlas Mara, Standard Chartered Plc and Barclays Plc exited several African markets for more profitable markets globally.
The retreat of British banking giants from Africa triggered an unprecedented corporate mergers and acquisitions across the continent, credited with 31 mega mergers in the financial sector within the Comesa region over the past five years.
Disclosures by the Comesa competition watchdog show that mergers in the banking and financial services sector between 2021 and 2025 were driven by the rising digital transformation in the 21-member bloc, increasing digital financial products, exiting of big multinational banks in some countries and general increase in capitalisation requirements by the central banks in majority of the member states.
