NSE(Nairobi Securities Exchange)gave spectacular returns to both institutional as well as retail investors as some of the most inactive counters, some facing imminent liquidation, led the price gainers list.
The year also closed on a positive as Safaricom announced the January 2026 roll out of its Ziidi Trader, which is embedded within the M-Pesa App. Ziidi trader allows Portfolio Tracking and monitoring investments in real-time, alerts on market fluctuations and a watchlists that enable one to keep tabs on favorite stocks.
Also stealing the show in 2025 were turnaround players as well as counters that benefited from highly speculative trading activities.
NSE Top Price Gaining Counters in 2025
The list of some of the top price gainers were led by Uchumi Supermarket, Sameer Africa, Home Africa, Olympia Capital, TransCentury, KenGen, East African Portland Cement, Car&General, NSE Plc and Kenya Power(KPLC) as banks, utility companies, insurance firms and cement stocks excited the appetite of investors at the Nairobi Bourse.
According to investment insiders, most price gainers benefitted from sentiments and speculative trades rather than change in fundamentals.
As the year drew to a close, speculators first descended on NCBA Group after unverified info filtered into the market of a possible acquisition of the lender by South Africa’s giant Standard Bank.
Soon after, an unverified financial results of power generator, KenGen, leaked at midnight, sending the market into a frenzy. This incident forced the NSE to halt trades on the KenGen Counter while KenGen postponed announcement of the end year financial results.
Uchumi Supermarkets still remains a counter that is being keenly watched after it defied negative news in 2025 about its imminent liquidation, probes from the market regulator and ghosts from its past, to ride on to become last year’s top price gainer.
Despite years of financial distress, Uchumi has executed several restructuring steps, backed by creditor reports, court fillings and financial disclosures. This has made investors to ignore probes by Capital Markets Authority on the retailer’s disclosures and governance structures.
A classic case on how to turn around a distressed concern, Uchumi has been able to restructure its loan book, obtain a court-approved moratorium that protects its assets from banks and other creditors, sold illiquid assets to raise cash and repay its debts; leased commercial property and floor space instead of running loss-making stores and ride on the Government’s e-procurement to sort out what it owes suppliers.
While Uchumi has taken meaningful steps to revive its fortunes, an adverse court decision concerning its dispute with Kenya Defence Forces(KDF) over the Kasarani Mall Property, could end the life of the 50-year old retailer.
In the case of NCBA, rumours that the lender was about to be bought by South Africa’s Stanbic Bank, led to an upswing it the counter’s share price. The price of NCBA went up sharply on the rumour as traders took advantage of the unconfirmed news and bought more shares, driving up demand.
“While experienced investors are focused on growth and dividend income, the still leverage rumours to buy more when the price dips or sell during rallies to recover initial capital. For traders and speculators, the plan is to just be there for the harvest, gauging investor sentiments and trading tactically,” said Dedan Maina, a Certified Financial Analyst.
The year 2025 also saw some spectacular activity on some relatively inactive counters, as investors rode on hype created by investment bankers and market pundits.
For instance, TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya, a listed firm and the third largest oil retailer, saw its stock price move from KSh 34 to KSh 44, a significant KSh 10 rise just two trading days.
This was a case where investment banks ‘hype’ stocks by giving positive forecasts and recommending investors to buy.
In a market where most investors are looking for buy or sell signals, this strategy works well, especially for institutional investors.
While the NSE had less than a million active investors a few years ago, the bourse has since more than doubled this number.
The year 2025 saw a huge backlog of new account opening requests at the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation(CDSC).
This year is likely to see even further requests as Ziidi trader attracts more individuals to the bourse.
ALSO READ:NSE to Open Doors Wide for Retail Investors Via Ziidi Trader App
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