Kenya’s Ndegwa Family Cleared to Buy Back 24% of Insurer ICEA Lion

KENYA · INSURANCE

The family of a former Kenyan central bank governor is set to regain full ownership of ICEA Lion, a Nairobi insurance group. Kenya’s competition regulator has cleared the family’s investment firm, First Chartered Securities, to take sole control.

Business Daily reported on Monday 5 October that the family will pay KSh8.5 billion (about US$65.5 million) for the remaining 24.1 percent. The stake is held by a fund run by LeapFrog Investments, through which US insurer Prudential Financial owns it.

Nairobi, where ICEA Lion has its head office, seen from Gigiri in the north of the city (file photo, 2025). (Photo: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Who Is Buying and Who Is Selling

The buyer is First Chartered Securities, the investment company controlled by the Ndegwa family. It already owns 75.9 percent of ICEA Lion Insurance Holdings, the group’s parent company.

The family is that of the late Philip Ndegwa, who governed the Central Bank of Kenya from 1982 to 1988. Business Daily said the deal will give the family sole ownership again.

The minority stake is held by Eastern Africa Holdings, the vehicle a LeapFrog fund used to buy it. Kenya’s competition regulator cleared that purchase without conditions in January 2021, The Standard reported at the time.

Prudential Financial, based in Newark, New Jersey, says it owns a 24% equity interest in ICEA Lion. It holds it through a private equity partnership managed by LeapFrog, and agreed in January 2026 to sell.

Prudential Financial is not the same company as Prudential plc. The two insurers have an agreement on how each may use the shared name.

Dollar figures here use about 129.75 Kenyan shillings to the US dollar on 6 October 2026.

What Kenya’s Competition Regulator Approved

The Competition Authority of Kenya published its decision as Gazette Notice No. 15918, dated Friday 21 August 2026. It was printed in the Kenya Gazette in the week to Friday 2 October.

The notice authorises First Chartered Securities Capital Limited to acquire sole control of ICEA Lion Insurance Holdings Limited. Kenyan business sites Khusoko and TechTrendsKE reported it on Monday 5 October.

The notice does not state the price or set any conditions, Khusoko reported.

Prudential’s quarterly report, filed on Wednesday 5 August, said closing was subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The competition clearance followed about two weeks later.

What the Stake Cost in 2020

The Ndegwas brought in the private equity investor six years ago. In July 2020, Business Daily reported a KSh2.4 billion (US$18.5 million at today’s rate) sale of 24.1 percent to LeapFrog.

Business Daily said that deal valued the whole group at KSh10 billion (US$77 million at today’s rate). By our calculation, the reported buyback price implies a value of about KSh35.3 billion (US$272 million) for the whole group.

In shillings, the exit price is about 3.5 times the 2020 price. The return measured in US dollars depends on how far the shilling has moved since then.

What the Insurer Does

ICEA Lion sells life and general insurance, pensions, unit trusts and trustee services. It has head offices in Nairobi, in Kampala in Uganda and in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The group traces its roots to 1895, it says. Its current form dates from a 2012 merger of the Insurance Company of East Africa (ICEA) and Lion of Kenya Insurance.

The company reported assets of KSh194.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) at the end of 2023. With only two shareholders, its shares are not listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

What It Means for US Readers

For Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), the Kenyan stake is a minor holding. It was not a significant contributor to the company’s International Businesses segment, Prudential says.

Since late 2025, Prudential has reported the stake’s results among its divested and run-off businesses. In April 2026 it also agreed to sell a 49% Indonesian life insurance stake and PGIM India, its Indian fund arm.

Prudential keeps strategic investments in insurers in Ghana and South Africa, including Enterprise Group in Ghana. The Kenyan exit trims, but does not end, its exposure to African insurance.

For investors in African private equity, the deal shows one exit route. The fund is selling back to the local owner, not through a stock market listing.

Ownership is shifting elsewhere in Kenyan finance too. In late August, Kenya’s central bank cleared South Africa’s Nedbank to buy up to 66% of NCBA Group.

What Is Not Known

The sale has not been reported as completed, and no completion date has been published. Neither Prudential nor LeapFrog has disclosed the KSh8.5 billion (US$65.5 million) price reported by Business Daily.

The parties have not said whether Kenya’s Insurance Regulatory Authority must still approve the change of ownership. The same applies to insurance supervisors in Uganda and Tanzania.

The family has not announced any change to the insurer’s management, brand or strategy. Prudential has not said whether it expects to book a gain or a loss on the sale.

More: Kenya news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ICEA Lion?

It is an insurance and investment group based in Nairobi, Kenya. It sells life and general insurance, pensions and investment funds in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Who are the Ndegwas?

They are the family of the late Philip Ndegwa, a former governor of Kenya’s central bank. Their firm, First Chartered Securities, already owns 75.9 percent of ICEA Lion.

Why does a US company own part of a Kenyan insurer?

Prudential Financial invested through a private equity fund managed by LeapFrog Investments. That fund bought 24.1 percent of the group in a deal agreed in 2020, and Prudential agreed to sell in January 2026.

Can Americans buy shares in the insurer?

No. The group is privately owned and its shares are not listed on any stock exchange. Once the sale closes, the Ndegwa family’s firm will own all of it.

How big is the deal in US dollars?

The reported price is KSh8.5 billion (US$65.5 million), at roughly 129.75 shillings to the dollar on 6 October 2026. Business Daily reported the price; Prudential and LeapFrog have not disclosed it.

Sources: Business Daily, 5 October 2026; Prudential Financial, Form 10-Q for the quarter to 30 June 2026 (SEC), 5 August 2026; Prudential Financial, Form 10-K for 2025 (SEC), 12 February 2026; Khusoko, 5 October 2026; TechTrendsKE, 5 October 2026; Vellum, Kenya Gazette week ended 2 October 2026, 5 October 2026; Business Daily, 14 July 2020; The Standard, 4 January 2021; ICEA LION Kenya, Our Heritage, 6 October 2026.

Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error