Kenyatta family loses $20 million in NCBA stake

The Kenyatta family—one of Kenya’s influential political and business families and the country’s largest private landowners—is facing a sharp markdown in the value of their holdings in NCBA Group after a steady drop in the bank’s share price on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

The family holds its stake through the estate of the late President Jomo Kenyatta, which owns 217.5 million shares, or 13.2 percent of the bank. Over the past five weeks, that stake has fallen by Ksh2.61 billion ($20.12 million). The holding, which stood at Ksh20.93 billion ($161.35 million) a little more than a month ago, is now worth Ksh18.32 billion ($141.24 million).

NCBA drop hits Kenyatta stake

The decline tracks a pullback in NCBA’s stock. The bank’s shares have slipped 12.47 percent in the past 35 days, moving from Ksh96.25 ($0.7419) on Oct. 22 to Ksh84.25 ($0.6494) as of the latest trading session. The slide has pushed the group’s market capitalization closer to the $1 billion mark and trimmed recent gains for its largest investors, including the Kenyatta estate.

NCBA, headquartered in Nairobi, operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire. The lender was created in 2019 following the merger of NIC Bank Group and Commercial Bank of Africa Group, a deal that brought together two long-standing players in retail, corporate and digital banking. The combined entity has since positioned itself as one of East Africa’s most diversified financial institutions.

Big NCBA gains, real market swings

Even with the recent pullback, NCBA has delivered strong returns this year. Its shares are up 74.79 percent year-to-date, thus placing it among the top performers on the Nairobi bourse. A $100,000 investment at the start of the year would now be worth $174,790, a gain of $74,790.

For the Kenyatta family, though, the recent downturn underscores a fact familiar to seasoned investors: even in a strong year, market swings can quickly reshape the value of long-term holdings. The family remains one of the bank’s biggest individual shareholders, but the past month has offered a clear reminder of the volatility that comes with equity ownership.