The collapse of the sale of Eskom’s staff home loan business to African Bank has brought the bank’s acquisition spree to an end.
In a statement on 8 May, the bank said that it will now focus on its existing operations and solidifying its diversified product offering.
African Bank had previously announced that it would acquire Eskom’s staff home loan book, which is valued at around R5.7 billion.
The utility had put the book up for sale following the National Treasury’s R254 billion debt relief programme in 2023, with one of the conditions being the sale of the business.
Eskom has been trying to sell the home loan book for nearly a decade, with it first announcing a planned sale in 2018.
Established more than 30 years ago, Eskom Finance Corporation was set up to provide lending solutions to staff members as a way to enhance efficiency and make the utility a more attractive place to work.
While Eskom’s need for the deal to go through is clear, African Bank said the acquisition would further diversify its product offering.
The bank has been on an acquisition spree to decrease its overall exposure to unsecured lending, which still makes up a significant chunk of its operations.
This type of lending is higher-risk, requiring it to keep more cash on hand and is highly volatile, resulting in huge seasonal swings in profitability and growth.
To increase exposure to other parts of banking, African Bank snapped up Grindrod Bank and Ubank in 2022, with it buying two divisions from Sasfin Bank in 2024 and 2025.
This significantly increased African Bank’s business banking business, giving it exposure to vehicle and asset finance, as well as a higher-quality retail client base.
It still lacked a significant home loan book, which is seen as one of the highest-quality forms of lending for a retail bank, with mortgages tending to be stable, predictable and highly profitable.
However, this planned acquisition, despite being announced in 2024, has fallen through. Eskom announced on 7 May that the deadline for fulfilling deal conditions had lapsed and thus, the deal is over.
African Bank’s board has responded by saying that it has decided not to proceed with the acquisition of Eskom’s staff home loan book and related assets.
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This article is published on Business Point website
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Updated: May 2026
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