NSE (Nairobi Securities Exchange) retail investors can look forward to a more streamlined experience starting January 2026, as Safaricom’s Ziidi Trader feature allows buying and selling shares directly via M-Pesa.
This innovation aims to increase participation in the NSE by making share trading more accessible and convenient. Thus, the Nairobi Bourse, long seen as a private club of savvy individual and institutional investors, is about to experience some disruption.
NSE investors to have more features on the Ziidi App
Safaricom’s Ziidi Trader, is embedded within the M-Pesa app, and offers features like Portfolio Tracking enabling investors to monitor their investments in real-time. The Ziidi trader also has real-time alerts that unable the investor to stay updated on market fluctuations; it also has watchlists that enable one to keep tabs on favourite stocks.
By integrating with M-Pesa, Ziidi Trader eliminates the need for separate brokerage accounts, making it easier for new retail investors to join the NSE.
The move by Safaricom’s Mpesa to enter the NSE trading floor is expected to boost retail investor participation, currently low at around 4.3% of registered investors.
NSE Investors: Why this news matters.
Ziidi Trader inside M-Pesa is a big structural change for the NSE. Millions of Kenyans already use M-Pesa so buying shares will become simple and familiar. Increased retail participation will result in more investors coming on board triggering more demand for shares. Higher demand often results in price appreciation (capital gains).
NSE: The Big Winners
So the big winners are companies that are widely known, have more affordable share prices and already have high trading activity. Companies most likely to benefit include Safaricom because it owns M-Pesa. Ziidi Trader is embedded in its ecosystem and this increased trading activity will strengthen the fintech’s dominance.
Ziidi will ride on the capital gains logic and its higher visibility, increased investor loyalty, strong fundamentals of Safaricom and its innovation narrative. Safaricom is therefore one of the clearest beneficiaries of this news. While the market already has a heap of online stock trading platforms, the strong brand name that Safaricom possesses is set to upstage other rival online stock trading platforms that already exist in the market.
The NSE will benefit from increased volumes which translates from more transactions, listing fees, trading fees as well as data & market services. Higher trading volumes improves.
New investors usually start with familiar names, not complex companies. Likely beneficiaries include Equity Group, KCB Group, Co-operative Bank, and East African Breweries (EABL). These are well-known brands that enjoy regular media coverage and therefore seen as “safe” or “trustworthy”.
ALSO READ: Safaricom Piloting Ziidi Mobile Trader App
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