By Patrick Beja
Central Bank of Kenya Governor Njuguna Ndung’u has urged Kenyans to take up investment opportunities in the capital markets.
Ndung’u added this would boost wealth and job creation.
“It is important for Kenyans to understand the financial markets to ensure economic growth. Everyone should fit in the financial markets including microfinance,” Ndung’u said.
He said the challenge in Kenya and Africa in general was that people are not privy to the financial markets and as a result, lacked affordable credit.
The governor was addressing the Third Africa Governance, Leadership and Management Convention in Mombasa on Wednesday.
The convention was organised by the Kenya Institute of Management and funded by the United Nations Development Programme.
He noted that when Kenya launched an infrastructure bond in the diaspora last year, it received little interest until the target investors had access to enough information about it. “The Central Bank and the Capital Markets Authority had to work closely to ensure the diaspora understood the bond and as a result the market developed a lot of interest,” Ndung’u explained.
The governor commended the innovation in payments through the mobile phone financial services, saying it had contributed to economic growth.
Immediate former CMA Chief Executive Officer Stella Kilonzo said Kenya should allow agencies to receive remittances from the Diaspora to increase flow of finances.
She said such remittances would provide affordable finances for investors in the country.
“Morocco has even established a whole Ministry of Diaspora to encourage such remittances because the funds are less expensive to investors,” Kilonzo said.
