Nairobi, April 27 -- Pan-African banking group United Bank for Africa (UBA) has acquired more stakes in its Kenyan and Ugandan subsidiaries in the wake of a rush by Nigerian lenders to penetrate the East African banking market now under the control of Kenyan retail banks.

The Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu-owned lender acquired 13 percent and 11 percent additional shares in UBA Kenya Ltd and UBA Uganda Ltd respectively in 2022, signalling the lender's growing appetite for investment in a market with more than 300 million people. It also runs subsidiaries in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The share sale increased UBA Plc's shareholding in the Kenyan and Ugandan units from 81 percent and 69 percent to 94 percent a...