Kenya Seeks New Stock Investors
By Semafor Africa Photos: YouTube Screenshots The Nairobi Securities Exchange is betting on mobile money platforms to attract more retail investors after ending a decade-long IPO drought, with leading telcos expected to soon roll out trading services on mobile money apps to widen access to capital markets. Andrew Barden, chief executive of Wall Street Africa Group, a Nairobi-headquartered financial intelligence company, told Semafor that he expected mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money to drive “a massive number of new retail traders coming into the NSE.” He described last week’s IPO of the state-run petroleum transporter, Kenya Pipeline Company, as “a litmus test” for the NSE’s strategy to reach 9 million new retail traders by 2029. Meanwhile Ian Mwangi, a Nairobi-based economist, said that new retail investors would have to be convinced to buy stocks instead of more traditional investments. Retail investment participation in the NSE has been historically low. Many have compared the introduction of trading on M-Pesa to the launch of Robinhood in the US in 2013. The timing is also key: More IPOs may be on the cards as Kenya’s government looks to privatize further state assets to fund infrastructure projects. Read on for how mobile money platforms could shake up the stock market. →
Black News 
By Semafor Africa
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The Nairobi Securities Exchange is betting on mobile money platforms to attract more retail investors after ending a decade-long IPO drought, with leading telcos expected to soon roll out trading services on mobile money apps to widen access to capital markets.
Andrew Barden, chief executive of Wall Street Africa Group, a Nairobi-headquartered financial intelligence company, told Semafor that he expected mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money to drive “a massive number of new retail traders coming into the NSE.” He described last week’s IPO of the state-run petroleum transporter, Kenya Pipeline Company, as “a litmus test” for the NSE’s strategy to reach 9 million new retail traders by 2029. Meanwhile Ian Mwangi, a Nairobi-based economist, said that new retail investors would have to be convinced to buy stocks instead of more traditional investments.
Retail investment participation in the NSE has been historically low. Many have compared the introduction of trading on M-Pesa to the launch of Robinhood in the US in 2013. The timing is also key: More IPOs may be on the cards as Kenya’s government looks to privatize further state assets to fund infrastructure projects.
Read on for how mobile money platforms could shake up the stock market. →
