Equity Group Holdings is looking toward Angola for its next big move on the continent, with the Nairobi-listed bank understood to be exploring an acquisition in Luanda.
The development comes as its long-running effort to crack the Ethiopian market continues to hit walls in Addis Ababa.
For a bank that has spent years talking up its pan-African ambitions, the Angola pivot is less a retreat than a workaround. Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi still wants Ethiopia — he has said so repeatedly — but wanting and getting are different things, and right now, Addis Ababa is not making it easy.
Ethiopia ambitions stall on regulatory hurdles
Equity first knocked on Ethiopia’s door back in 2019. It was early days for what the bank called its phase-two expansion — a push to go beyond the East African markets it already knew. The problem was that Ethiopia, at the time, simply did not let foreign banks in. Full stop. That wall only started coming down with Banking Business Proclamation No. 1360/2024, a landmark piece of legislation passed in December 2024 that finally allowed foreign lenders to set up subsidiary branches and buy into local banks.
So the door is open. Yet Equity is still standing outside it. Mwangi met with Ethiopian Investment Commissioner Zeleke Temesgen, who gave assurances of support and cooperation. But assurances from an investment commissioner do not hand you a banking licence. The National Bank of Ethiopia has been applying tough scrutiny to foreign applicants, and industry watchers say the vetting process has become a source of real frustration — particularly given that Ethiopia is one of the least-banked countries on the continent. The opportunity is obvious; the path in is not.
Angola emerges as Equity next frontier
So while Ethiopia works through its process, Equity is looking south. Angola has been quietly building a case for itself: the government is pushing hard to diversify away from oil, the middle class is growing, and the banking sector — by most measures — is still far too small for an economy of Angola’s scale. Less than 40% of Angolan adults have access to formal banking services. That is the kind of gap that catches the attention of an expansion-minded lender.
If a deal in Luanda goes through, it would be a first for Equity outside of East and Central Africa. The bank currently runs operations in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan — six markets. Angola would be seven, and the first in a Portuguese-speaking country. That alone makes it strategically different from anything Equity has done before.
Key facts
- Equity operates in six African markets; Angola would make seven
- Ethiopia Proclamation No. 1360/2024 opened the sector to foreign banks in December 2024
- Kenya Commercial Bank has held a representative office in Addis Ababa since 2015
- National Bank of Ethiopia issued foreign-bank application guidelines in June 2025
- Angola banking penetration remains below 40% of the adult population
KCB also circles Ethiopia as regional race heats up
Equity is not the only Kenyan lender sitting in Ethiopia’s waiting room. Kenya Commercial Bank Group has had a representative office in Addis Ababa since 2015 — more than a decade of watching and waiting — and is now in talks with the National Bank of Ethiopia to find a local partner. That push got more concrete after NBE issued its application guidelines to foreign banks in June 2025.
KCB already has a heavy footprint across the region: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC. Adding Ethiopia would be a natural step. The fact that both KCB and Equity are chasing the same market at the same time tells you something about the hunger for growth among Kenya’s biggest banks — and about just how large the Ethiopian prize looks from Nairobi.
For now though, Equity is not waiting around. Angola is on the table, the numbers make sense, and unlike Addis Ababa, Luanda appears to be ready for a deal.
