• Cameroon financier Alain Nkontchou to buy Nedbank 21.22 percent stake in Ecobank for 100 million US dollars pending regulators.
• Upon closure Nkontchou family will hold 24 percent of Ecobank combining new 21.22 percent stake with existing 2.86 percent via Enko Capital.
• Nedbank exits after 17 year partnership but keeps correspondent banking ties across 35 African markets where Ecobank serves 32 million clients.

Bosquet Investments Ltd., the private investment vehicle of Cameroonian financier Alain Nkontchou, has agreed to purchase the 21.22 % shareholding that South Africa’s Nedbank Group Ltd. has held in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) since 2008. The sale, announced on 15 August 2025, is subject to the routine regulatory clearances expected over the next three to six months and is scheduled to close before the end of 2025.

When the transfer is completed, the Nkontchou family’s combined exposure will rise to about 24 % of ETI’s issued share capital. This figure comprises the newly acquired 21.22 % block and the 2.86 % already held indirectly through Enko Capital, the African-focused asset-management group co-founded by Alain and Cyrille Nkontchou.

Nedbank’s exit ends a partnership that began in 2008 with an initial investment of roughly US $285 million. A further US $215 million between 2008 and 2014 lifted Nedbank’s stake to 21.2 %, for an aggregate cash outlay of approximately US $500 million. The purchase price in the current transaction is US $100 million (about R1.8 billion), according to Nedbank’s market release and filings by both parties.

Enko Capital Management LLP is acting as lead financial adviser to Bosquet Investments, with Absa Bank Limited serving as co-adviser. Upon completion, Bosquet Investments will become ETI’s largest single shareholder, surpassing the Qatar National Bank (last disclosed at 13.5 %) and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (last disclosed at 7.2 %).

Ecobank, which serves 32 million customers across 35 sub-Saharan markets, has confirmed that Nedbank will retain correspondent-banking relationships throughout the continent after the deal closes. Alain Nkontchou, a member of ETI’s board since 2014 and chairman from 2020 to 2024, is widely credited with guiding the group back to sustained profitability. The latest ownership shift is seen by management as a strategic endorsement of the bank’s “Growth, Transformation and Returns” agenda.