LAGOS, Jan 20 – Africa’s corporate landscape recorded a resurgence in large scale mergers and acquisitions in 2025, with transactions spanning media, oil and gas, telecoms, mining, and financial services. While deal volumes were driven largely by technology and fintech acquisitions, the highest values came from infrastructure, energy, and platform consolidation across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Geographic Concentration
South Africa, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kenya accounted for 100% of the highest value corporate deals in Africa in 2025, underscoring the dominance of more mature markets in large scale consolidation across energy, telecoms, media, and financial services.
- South Africa hosted four deals, led by the Canal+ acquisition of MultiChoice and major telecom and fintech transactions, reinforcing its role as the continent’s deepest capital and corporate market.
- Nigeria recorded three deals, anchored by the Heirs Energies Seplat transaction and consumer sector divestments, reflecting sustained activity in energy and fast moving consumer goods.
- Côte d’Ivoire accounted for two deals, both in extractives, highlighting its growing importance in West Africa’s oil, gas, and mining value chains.
- Kenya featured in three transactions, primarily in banking, fintech, and broadband infrastructure, confirming its position as East Africa’s consolidation hub.
The concentration of deal value in these four countries reflects stronger regulatory frameworks, asset scale, and investor familiarity, particularly in sectors requiring long term capital such as energy and telecommunications.
Below are the ten largest disclosed corporate deals of the year by transaction value, based on publicly available data.
1. Canal+ Acquires MultiChoice
Country: South Africa
Deal Size: $2 billion
French media group Canal+ completed its acquisition of MultiChoice, securing control of Africa’s largest pay TV operator. The deal strengthens Canal+’s footprint across African media and streaming markets and reflects continued foreign interest in African consumer platforms with continental reach.
2. Eni and Vitol Baleine Field Transaction
Country: Côte d’Ivoire
Deal Size: $1.65 billion
Energy major Eni and commodities trader Vitol completed a major transaction involving stakes in the Baleine offshore oil and gas field. The deal underscores West Africa’s growing role in global energy supply chains amid renewed upstream investment.
3. Vodacom Sells Stake in Maziv
Country: South Africa
Deal Size: $752 million
Vodacom divested a stake in its fibre infrastructure unit Maziv as part of a broader strategy to unlock value from passive assets. The transaction highlights rising investor appetite for digital infrastructure across African markets.
4. Heirs Energies Acquires Stake in Seplat Energy
Country: Nigeria
Deal Size: $500 million
Heirs Energies acquired Maurel & Prom’s 20.07% stake in Seplat Energy, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil and gas producers. The transaction significantly deepened local ownership in the sector and ranked among Africa’s largest energy deals of the year.
5. Barrick Gold Sells Tongon Mine
Country: Côte d’Ivoire
Deal Size: $305 million
Barrick Gold exited the Tongon gold mine as part of portfolio optimisation efforts. The divestment reflects a broader trend of global miners reallocating capital toward higher margin assets while opening space for new operators in African mining.
6. dLocal Acquires AZA Finance
Country: Kenya
Deal Size: $150 million
Uruguay based fintech dLocal acquired AZA Finance, strengthening its African payments and cross border remittance capabilities. The deal illustrates continued consolidation in Africa’s fintech ecosystem as firms seek scale and regulatory reach.
7. Coca Cola Exits Chivita and Hollandia
Country: Nigeria
Deal Size: $118 million
Coca Cola sold its Nigerian juice and dairy brands Chivita and Hollandia to UAC. The move aligns with Coca Cola’s global strategy to streamline its portfolio while positioning UAC as a stronger consumer goods player in West Africa.
8. Access Bank Acquires National Bank of Kenya
Country: Kenya
Deal Size: $109.6 million
Access Bank completed the acquisition of National Bank of Kenya, expanding its East African presence. The deal reflects ongoing consolidation in African banking as institutions seek regional scale and balance sheet strength.
9. Nedbank Acquires iKhokha
Country: South Africa
Deal Size: $92.4 million
Nedbank acquired a stake in fintech payments firm iKhokha, reinforcing its digital payments strategy and exposure to small business merchants. The transaction highlights the convergence of traditional banking and fintech across the continent.
10. AXIAN Telecom Acquires Wananchi Group
Country: Kenya and Tanzania
Deal Size: $63 million
AXIAN Telecom acquired Wananchi Group, the operator behind the Zuku brand, expanding its broadband and pay TV footprint in East Africa. The deal supports AXIAN’s ambition to build a diversified telecom and digital services platform across Africa.
