Central Bank of Kenya approves Access Bank Kenya and NBK merger

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has approved the transfer of all assets and liabilities from Access Bank Kenya Plc to the National Bank of Kenya (NBK). Under this arrangement, NBK will be the surviving entity, and the Access Bank Kenya brand will be discontinued.

This consolidation follows the acquisition of NBK by the Nigerian-based Access Bank Plc, which had previously purchased Transnational Bank Plc and rebranded it as Access Bank Kenya. The merger aims to address capital requirements; while Access Bank Kenya’s core capital was approximately Sh892 million, the regulatory minimum is Sh3 billion, whereas NBK’s capital stood at Sh12.01 billion.

The transfer received formal sign-off from the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary under the Banking Act. This move reflects a broader trend in Kenya’s banking sector toward consolidation, where institutions seek greater scale, capital strength, and operating efficiency to improve competitive positioning and lending capacity.