NAIROBI, Kenya
CIC Insurance Group Ltd shares commenced trading on the Main Investments Market Segment of the Nairobi Securities Exchange today. The leading micro-insurer listed 2.1 billion shares by introduction at a market price of Kshs3.50 per share and the launch was marked by bell ringing by President Mwai Kibaki.
NSE chairman Edward Njoroge said CIC had established a niche by serving the 10 million member co-operative sector, comprising of over 12,000 co-operative societies. “The Exchange welcomes this additional association with the co-operative movement through CIC. We look forward to supporting CIC in the provision of insurance and micro insurance services to the co-operative and low-income market segments in Kenya,” he said.
Mr. Njoroge also applauded the government for its support in the establishment of the Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS for small and medium sized enterprises. Mr. Njoroge said: “We anticipate that GEMS will provide an additional source of long term capital to our SMEs. This will support their expansion and create more jobs for our people, driving growth in our economy.”
He commended the Government for proposing to amend the Central Depositories Act to facilitate a single Central Depository in Kenya, which will ease the settlement of securities and also support the Treasury Mobile Direct initiative that will enable Kenyans to buy treasury bills and bonds using their mobile phones. “We anticipate that the Treasury Mobile Direct initiative will make it easier and quicker for the Kenyan investor to trade fixed income securities.
The NSE stands ready to support this initiative to broaden access and participation in our market,” he said. CIC Insurance Group is the second company to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange this year. The initial listing price was Kshs.3.50 per share, giving CIC a market capitalisation of Kshs10.5 billion, based on the total authorised shares of three billion. In terms of market capitalisation, CIC would rank number 22 on the stock market.
The other company to list this year was Longhorn Publishers. It listed 58.5 million shares by way of introduction on May 30, 2012. It made history by becoming the first publishing company in East Africa to list on an East African stock exchange. On June 21, 2012, the new 1.03 billion shares of Kenya Airways (KQ) listed and commenced trading on the Main Investment Market Segment (MIMS) of the NSE. The new shares arose from the largest Rights Issue in East Africa to date.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is the principal securities exchange of Kenya. Besides equity securities, the NSE offers a platform for the issuance and trading of debt securities. The NSE is a member of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) and the East African Securities Exchanges Association (EASEA). It is an affiliate member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).
