As Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity across Africa continues to lag behind a recovering global market, Dalu Ajene, CEO and head of coverage for Africa at Standard Chartered, has called for a fundamental rethink of acquisition finance, warning that the continent could miss a crucial phase of industrial growth without more flexible funding structures.
Speaking at a roundtable on “Scaling Acquisition Finance to Steady the M&A Downturn” at a pan-African forum in Kigali, Rwanda, Ajene said the continent’s weak dealmaking environment reflects a shortage of suitable financing solutions rather than a lack of corporate appetite for expansion.
According to a discussion paper presented by the CEO at the event, Africa’s M&A market has underperformed despite signs of a global recovery in deal activity. Data from BCG’s 2025 M&A Report showed that Africa’s total deal value declined by about 24 percent in the first nine months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, while transactions involving African targets fell by nearly 46 percent.
In contrast, global deal value increased by roughly 10 percent over the same period.
Another data from DealMakers Africa showed that M&A deal value across Africa, excluding South Africa, dropped 16 percent year-on-year to $4.66 billion in the first half of 2025, while deal volumes declined by 21 percent.
