NSE is the Kenyan stock exchange. The word ‘NSE’ is a short form of the Nairobi Securities Exchange and not the Nairobi Stock Exchange, as many usually term it.
Like the American NYSE, the New York Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in the world based on the total market capitalisation of its listed securities, NSE is a marketplace for securities and other exchange-traded investments, providing a platform where the equity shares of public companies in Kenya are bought and sold.
By its worth, it is one of the leading African exchanges, having a market capitalisation of Ksh1,588.53 billion or approximately $12.3 billion, with over 50 listed companies as of August 2024.
> How To Buy Your First Shares On The NSE – a Step By Step
Companies generally list their shares on stock exchanges to raise capital from the public markets and interested investors to support their growth needs.
At NSE, there are different market segments called the Equities Market, to which companies list:-
“The NSE equities market is comprised of three listing segments, each specifically designed to meet capital, liquidity as well as regulatory requirements for issuers of all sizes,” NSE says.
These are the Main Investment Market Segment, Alternative Investment Market Segment, and Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS), all with varying listing requirements that a company must meet to be listed.
Primarily, the listing requirements are focused on the company size, largely by its share capital and the value of its net assets.
For instance, for a company to list in the NSE’s Main Investment Market Segment, its largest market division which we are going to look at, its net assets should be worth not less than Ksh100 million before going public and Ksh20 million for those wanting to list on the Alternative Investment Market Segment.
List of companies listed on NSE in 2024
Here are the companies listed on NSE’s Main Investment Market Segment:
1. Kakuzi Plc
2. Sasini Plc
3. Car and General (K) Ltd
4. Absa Bank Kenya Plc
5. BK Group Plc
6. Diamond Trust Bank Ltd
7. Equity Group Holdings
8. HF Group Plc
9. I&M Group Plc
10. KCB Group Plc
11. National Bank of Kenya Ltd
12. NCBA Group Plc
13. Stanbic Holdings PLC
14. Standard Chartered Bank Kenya
15. The Cooperative Bank of Kenya
16. Eveready East Africa Ltd
17. Kenya Airways Ltd
18. Nation Media Group Plc
19. Sameer Africa Plc
20. Standard Group Plc
21. TPS Eastern Africa Ltd
22. Uchumi Supermarket Plc
23. WPP Scangroup Plc
24. ARM Cement Plc
25. Bamburi Cement Ltd
26. Crown Paints Kenya
27. E.A Cables Ltd
28. EA Portland Cement Co Ltd
29. KenGen Co
30. Kenya Power & Lighting Co plc
31. Kenya Power & Lighting plc
32. Kenya Power & Lighting plc
33. TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya
34. Umeme Ltd
35. Britam Holdings Plc
36. CIC Insurance Group
37. Jubilee Holdings Ltd
38. Kenya Re-Insurance Corporation Ltd
39. Liberty Kenya Holdings
40. Sanlam Kenya Plc
41. Centum Investment Co Plc
42. Olympia Capital Holdings Ltd
43. Nairobi Securities Exchange Plc
44. B.O.C Kenya Plc
45. British American Tobacco Kenya Plc
46. Carbacid Investments Plc
47. East African Breweries Plc
48. Mumias Sugar Co Ltd
49. Unga Group Ltd
50. Safaricom Plc
The above companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange are considered the biggest and most valuable ones whose shares can be bought by the public since they are openly traded on the Kenyan bourse as of 2024.
