SOUTH AFRICA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ezra Davids, Tholinhlanhla Gcabashe, Nanga Kwinana and Ricci Hackner, Bowmans
Sector and Trend Highlights Mining and resources
acquisition of digital bank Bank Zero, and Stitch’s acquisition of Efficacy Payments, illustrate a strategic move toward ownership of payment infrastructure and data-driven platforms. Peach Payment’s acquisition of PayDunya, a Senegalese payment gateway, reflects cross-border activity by South African firms. Com - petition in transactional banking, merchant acquiring and digital wallets has intensified, encouraging incum - bents to internalise technology capabilities. Regulatory reform has also supported this trend. The South African Reserve Bank, through its Payments Ecosystem Modernisation Programme, is advancing changes to the national payments framework that will permit non-bank entities to participate more directly in clearing and settlement systems. This reform is expected to lower barriers to entry and increase com - petition, potentially enhancing fintech valuations. Banking and financial services South African banking groups will continue to pursue disciplined regional expansion strategies across Sub- Saharan Africa. The strategic emphasis has increas - ingly shifted towards higher-growth East African mar - kets, notably Kenya. Transactions such as Absa’s acquisition of Standard Chartered’s retail and wealth business in Uganda and Nedbank’s proposed acquisi - tion of a controlling stake in Kenya’s NCBA illustrate this deliberate reallocation of capital. South Africa’s strong traditional domestic banks – Standard Bank, FirstRand, Absa and Nedbank – have been attracted beyond a relatively mature domestic market by structural growth drivers including favour - able demographics, accelerating financial inclusion, rising trade corridors and rapid digital banking adop - tion across East Africa. Domestic banks such as Capitec, which focus on scale in the low-income and middle-income markets, continue to succeed and record strong growth within South Africa, employing advanced technology and operating low-cost systems. For South African institutions, the emphasis is clear: scale, digital capability and capital efficiency are cen - tral to competitive positioning. Cross-border expan - sion is also a strategy to enhance resilience, diversify
Mining M&A is shifting from traditional scale-driven consolidation toward strategic, value led transactions shaped by geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain secu - rity and commodity exposure, with elevated gold pric - es acting as a key near-term catalyst for deal-making. Alongside gold-led consolidation, bidder rationale is increasingly influenced by access to critical miner - als such as copper that underpin the energy transi - tion and portfolio realignment, as illustrated by the renewed wave of global mining mega transactions. M&A continues to provide an alternative to slower, capital-intensive greenfield development, particularly given the longer timelines and permitting/project deliv - ery uncertainty associated with new development. For South Africa, this global context is instructive. Although South Africa does not operate a standalone national security screening regime, merger control under the Competition Act, 1998 (the “Competi - tion Act”), particularly the public interest framework, alongside exchange control approval and sectoral licensing requirements, continues to influence trans - action structure, timing and execution risk. While deal volumes have moderated, there has been a marked increase in more selective, strategy-led consolidation in the market. Portfolio optimisation, divestments of non-core assets and jurisdictional diversification have driven a lot of activity, with South African min - ing houses continuing to explore both domestic and international opportunities. Fintech and digital payments One of the most active areas of M&A in South Africa has been financial technology and digital payments. During 2025, major banks and financial institutions acquired fintech businesses in order to secure pro - prietary technology, reduce third-party dependency and expand digital offerings. Reported aggregate spending by banks on fintech acquisitions exceeded R7 billion. Transactions such as Capitec’s acquisition of Wal - letdoc, Nedbank’s investment in payments provider iKhokha, FirstRand’s acquisition of Optasia, Lesaka’s
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