Among the whales of the NSE is Baloobhai Patel, who owns huge chunks of many of Kenya's largest publicly-listed firms, from multiple banks to manufacturers and insurers.

The move represents a policy break from the former President Uhuru Kenyatta-led administration which was reluctant to reduce its positions in key companies, citing strategic, regulatory and national security considerations. As Business Today reported in 2021, the National Treasury declined to float stakes in various companies on the NSE (with the exception of KenGen) - even after NSE CEO Geoffrey Odundo advised the government that it could potentially raise Ksh792.6 billion by doing so and help ease the cash crunch brought on by expensive debt repayments.

"The market is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of less than 10x. This presents a unique opportunity for investors to buy listed securities at attractive prices and enjoy capital gains when the market rebounds," Kittony stated in an interview...

The move follows an outcry from investors concerned about the firm making trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) more expensive when the bourse itself is struggling.

According to the corporation, the fee is necessary to keep CDSC financially stable and to enable it to offer better and expanded services. Worryingly, only 61,000 of the 2.03 million share accounts at the CDSC have participated in trading over the past two years.

Safaricom, Kenya's biggest telco, recorded the biggest loss at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), following a massive exodus of foreign investors. The telco accounted for 71.4 percent or Ksh210 billion of the Ksh294 billion paper loss recorded among the listed companies. This is despite Safaricom’s profit...