Nairobi, June 11 -- The number of disclosed private investment deals in the East African region rose to 41 in the first four months of the year, up from 34 a year earlier, despite tougher external financing conditions for private equity (PE) and venture capital firms.

These corporate deals include mergers, acquisitions, PE investments and exits, and investments by venture capital firms and development finance institutions (DFIs).

Kenya accounted for the bulk of the deals with 23 transactions, followed by Uganda (10), Ethiopia and Tanzania (3 each), and Rwanda (2).

Analysis of regional deals by advisory firm I&M Burbidge Capital, however, shows that the disclosed value of this year's deals fell to $324.4 million (Sh41.9 billion) from $6...