Absa Group plans to complete the reorganisation of its business outside South Africa within the next two years, as the bank steps up its expansion across Africa to reduce its reliance on its three biggest profit centres.

The lender, South Africa's third-biggest bank, wants to diversify its earnings away from South Africa, Kenya and Ghana, which together accounted for more than 80% of its profit in the six months to June 2026. The plan marks a shift from restructuring to growth under chief executive Kenny Fihla, with new markets, new products and new capabilities now the priority.

Charles Russon, Absa's executive for Africa Regions, set out the timetable in an interview with Bloomberg, saying the bank was impatient to move. "We're all a little bit impatient and we want to move," he said, adding that the projects under consideration were "much more growth-orientated" and that the bank was thinking about "new things, new markets, new products, new capabilities, new platforms".

Nigeria merchant bank and Angola office

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is the centrepiece of the plan. Absa has already begun converting its representative office there into a merchant bank, a move that would allow it to take corporate deposits and offer loans, investment banking and project finance. The bank is applying for the necessary licences, and Russon said he hoped the process, from application to opening, would take 12 to 18 months.

Nigeria's economy has become more attractive to investors as reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu lift growth and improve the investment climate, and Absa wants a fuller presence in the market rather than a representative office.

Absa is also setting up a new representative office in Angola, where President João Lourenço's administration has pursued reforms aimed at modernising the economy and attracting private investment. Higher oil prices, driven by the conflict in the Middle East, have boosted Angola's export revenue and eased pressure on public finances, adding to the country's appeal.

Russon spoke on the sidelines of the African Financial Industry Summit in Luanda, Angola's capital. "It's evident that this is a market that feels like it is turning, is becoming more open, more transparent and I think in due course, much more investable," he said. "You are going to see more business activity in Angola."

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania

Elsewhere on the continent, Absa is deepening its position in East Africa. In Kenya, the bank plans to raise its shareholding in its local unit gradually to 85% by 2028. It made a $238.7 million tender offer in June to buy an additional 16.5% stake, but only managed to lift its holding by 3.5 percentage points to 72%.

Russon said Absa retained a "strategic intent" to increase the holding over the next couple of years. "Hopefully we're able to get up near where we want it to be because the closer we are to 100% — not that we can go to 100% — then the more the economics make sense," he said. "If you believe in the market, then clearly you want to be able to benefit from everything the franchise does."

In Uganda, Absa has completed the integration of the wealth and retail-banking unit of Standard Chartered that it bought in 2025. In Tanzania, it is working on plans to consolidate its two banks to gain the scale needed to benefit from infrastructure investment in the country. "The East Africa region is a big growth region and Tanzania is a key part of it, a key market, a big market, and represents a big opportunity," Russon said.

Competing with bigger rivals

The expansion puts Absa into sharper competition with its larger South African rivals, Standard Bank Group and FirstRand, as well as Nigeria's own big lenders, including Access Holdings, Zenith Bank and First Bank of Nigeria.

Russon said the bank had been through a period of major foundational change and could now build on it. "We've gone through a lot of what I would call material foundational change that we can now start to build on for the next phase," he said, adding that the changes should position Absa to compete effectively across the continent, open new markets and support clients across its footprint.

The bank recently opened a branch in Dubai's international financial centre, adding a Gulf link to its international network, which also includes corridors in the United Kingdom and the United States and a non-banking unit opened in China in 2024.