KCB’s Pesapal Stake Is 22.23%, Tanzania Regulator Reveals

KCB Group is seeking to acquire a 22.23% stake in Pesapal, putting a number on a deal the bank first announced in November 2025 without disclosing how much of the payments company it planned to own.

The figure emerged from a notice by Tanzania’s Fair Competition Commission (FCC), which is reviewing the transaction because KCB’s investment in Pesapal’s Kenyan parent would give it indirect control of Pesapal Tanzania. The regulator is examining whether the acquisition could affect competition in Tanzania, bringing a deal between two Kenyan companies into the remit of a Tanzanian competition authority.

When KCB announced the investment last year, it said only that it had agreed to acquire an undisclosed minority stake in Pesapal, subject to regulatory approvals. Pesapal described the investment as a way to scale its operations and technology across Africa while retaining its independence, while KCB said the partnership would combine its financial infrastructure and regional reach with Pesapal’s payments capabilities.

The FCC notice provides the missing detail. KCB is seeking 22.23% of Pesapal’s entire issued share capital, although neither the bank nor Pesapal has disclosed the value of the transaction. The deal remains under regulatory review rather than being a completed transfer of shares.

Tanzania’s involvement comes from Pesapal’s regional structure. The company operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia, while its Tanzanian subsidiary is separately licensed as a payment service provider. KCB already operates a banking subsidiary in Tanzania, so a change in ownership at Pesapal’s Kenyan parent also changes the ownership structure around a payments business operating in that market.

The FCC opened the transaction to public comment, inviting customers, suppliers, competitors, employees and other interested parties to submit their views. That consultation closed on September 4, while the regulator continues to review the proposed acquisition.

Pesapal provides payment and business-management tools to merchants across sectors including retail, hospitality, travel, petroleum and manufacturing. Its platform gives businesses infrastructure for accepting payments and managing parts of their operations, placing the company directly in the flow of transactions generated by its merchant customers.

KCB and Pesapal already have a commercial relationship. In November 2025, the two companies announced a partnership targeting more than 10,000 fuel dealers across East Africa, with Pesapal providing payment and forecourt-management technology while KCB offered financing to businesses using the platform.

The proposed investment also follows KCB’s acquisition of a 75% stake in Riverbank Solutions, a Nairobi-based payments and technology company. Riverbank works across areas including agency banking, revenue collection and payment infrastructure, giving KCB another business operating around the systems through which companies collect and move money.

The two investments give KCB different positions around payments. Riverbank is majority-owned by the bank, while Pesapal would remain independently controlled with KCB holding 22.23%.

There is another financial connection between the two companies. KCB’s 2025 annual report showed that Pesapal owed the bank KSh1.2 billion at the end of December 2025. The disclosure does not establish a connection between that balance and the proposed equity investment, so the debt is best treated as a separate part of the relationship rather than as financing for the stake.