Absa Group will get KSh 3 billion (US$23.2 million) for its 63.32% stakes in First Assurance Co and Absa Life Assurance Kenya. First Assurance Investments Ltd, is majority owned by Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The price is below the KSh 3.8 billion that Absa Group had been expected to be paid. The deal, announced in August, needs approval from Kenya’s Insurance Regulatory Authority.
The sale returns First Assurance to the Kenyan investors who sold it to Barclays Africa, Absa’s former name, in 2015 for KSh 2.2 billion. The buyers are paying KSh 800 million more to take it back, along with the Absa life business.
Hon. Mudavadi is the largest backer of First Assurance Investments. Its shareholders include Syndicate Nominees, which Mudavadi told parliament in 2022 belongs to him, and Exclusive Holding Ltd., a Mombasa investment firm.
Lamu Governor Issa Timamy is a director and shareholder, according to filings and court documents. Mudavadi declared a net worth of 4.1 billion shillings when he was vetted for his cabinet post in October 2022.
The sale is part of Absa’s retreat from owning insurers outside South Africa.
Absa is exiting the Insurance Business in Africa
Absa Group has already sold its insurance units in Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique to Hollard. Its Kenyan bancassurance business grew its 2025 net profit 35%, while Life’s profit fell 26%. About Absa Life Assurance Kenya.
The Life Assurance business has been offering unique life assurance solutions that are reflective of the needs of the Kenyan population for the protection of livelihoods. The business commenced operations in 2015, after receiving its license from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and was the first life assurance company in Kenya to adopt fully, a bancassurance model of distribution. The underwriter had a Pan African heritage as a subsidiary of the Absa Group Limited.
In 2020, the underwriter embraced a new identity as Absa Life Assurance Kenya, opening a new chapter in its growth story.
First Assurance started its operations as Prudential Assurance Company PLC, a British Multinational Insurance Company that had commenced its operations in East Africa in 1930.
In 1991, Prudential Assurance Company became a wholly owned Kenyan Company and changed its name to First Assurance Company Limited.
In 2015, Barclays PLC through Barclays Africa Group Limited acquired 63.3% of First Assurance Company Limited and became the majority shareholder.
In 2018, Barclays Africa Group Limited changed its name to Absa in a rebranding exercise, after selling off the controlling stake in Absa South Africa’s third largest lender. First Assurance Company Limited became part of Absa Group Limited.
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