African tech recorded 84 mergers and acquisitions worth $11.4 billion in disclosed value in the first seven and a half months of 2026 alone — already ahead of the 68 deals recorded across all of 2025. The single largest of them is MTN Group's proposed $6.2 billion buyout of the roughly 75% of IHS Towers it doesn't already own, a deal that cleared a major hurdle in early August and, as of this writing, is still working through the regulatory approvals standing between it and closing.
A market shifting from raising money to buying it
The sector and geographic pattern behind the 84 deals says something about where Africa's tech market actually is in 2026: financial services accounts for 27 of them, roughly a third of all activity, and South Africa (22 deals), Nigeria (12), and Egypt (12) together account for more than half of all acquisition targets. Southern Africa leads by region with 24 deals, and Northern Africa follows with 18. None of that is a funding story. It's a market where scale increasingly comes from buying an existing licence, customer base, or piece of infrastructure rather than raising a round to build one from scratch.
The MTN-IHS Towers deal, and what it took to get this far
MTN's move on IHS Towers is the clearest single example of that shift, and it has taken most of 2026 to get as far as it has. The deal was announced in February at $8.50 a share, a 239% premium over IHS's share price when its strategic review was first announced in March 2024, and a 36% premium over its 52-week volume-weighted average price. "Today's announcement creates a compelling opportunity that provides certainty and immediate returns for our shareholders," said Sam Darwish, IHS Towers' Chairman and CEO, at the time.
IHS shareholders approved the transaction by special resolution at an extraordinary general meeting on August 4, MTN committed its own IHS shares to the vote, and Wendel, a long-term IHS shareholder, added its support, together representing more than 40% of the shareholder base backing the deal before it even reached other holders. "The approval by IHS shareholders is an important step toward completion of the transaction," said Ralph Mupita, MTN's Group President and CEO, after the vote.
Nigeria's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission followed with conditional approval, requiring MTN to divest up to 30% of the Nigerian component of the IHS business over time at market prices — a condition MTN said it was "comfortable with". Additional regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions remain outstanding; the deal was expected, as of MTN's own half-year results, to close in the second half of 2026.
Other deals shaping the same trend
The rest of 2026's largest disclosed deals reinforce the pattern: Vodacom Group's $2.1 billion move on a Safaricom stake, Pepkor Holdings' $1.29 billion merger of Flash and Shop2Shop, Nedbank's $850 million acquisition of NCBA Group, and Beltone's $197.6 million buyout of Baobab Group.
A parallel trend running underneath the largest deals: fintechs are increasingly acquiring banking licences outright while their founders retain control, a different path than the traditional pattern of banks acquiring fintechs and absorbing them. OPay and PalmPay are both reportedly preparing for foreign IPOs, a sign the exit market maturing around African tech isn't limited to trade sales.
What to watch next
The number worth tracking isn't the $11.4 billion; it's whether MTN actually closes on IHS Towers within the second half of 2026 as expected and whether the forced 30% Nigerian divestment changes the deal's economics enough to matter. A deal this size closing on schedule would be the clearest signal yet that 2026's consolidation wave has staying power beyond the headline count of deals; a delay or a renegotiated structure would suggest the regulatory friction behind Africa's biggest tech M&A story is harder to clear than the shareholder vote made it look.
Sourcing notes
- Aggregate deal count (84), disclosed value ($11.4B), 2025 comparison (68 deals), sector/country breakdown, named deal list (Vodacom/Safaricom, Pepkor/Flash-Shop2Shop, Nedbank/NCBA, Beltone/Baobab), fintech-licensing trend, OPay/PalmPay IPO prep: TechCabal Insights, "African tech M&A deals hit 84 as disclosed value reaches $11.4B," Aug 24, 2026 (figures as of Aug 17, 2026 — a running tally, not a full-year total).
- MTN-IHS Towers deal terms, premiums, and the Darwish quote: IHS Towers' own press release, "IHS Towers Announces Proposed Sale to MTN Group Limited for Approximately $6.2 Billion," Feb 17, 2026.
- Shareholder approval (Aug 4), Mupita quote, and current pending status: Innovation Village, "MTN Group nears completion of $6.2B acquisition to take full control of IHS Towers," Aug 5, 2026, and BusinessDay NG, "MTN moves closer to full IHS Towers takeover after shareholder approval," Aug 11, 2026.
- FCCPC conditional approval and the 30% Nigerian divestment requirement: BrandIconImage, "MTN Moves Closer to $6.2bn IHS Towers Acquisition After FCCPC Approval," reported alongside MTN's half-year 2026 results, Aug 2026.