Kenyans once shunned stock market over perception of ‘capitalist, gambling’

Trading on the floor of the Nairobi Securities Exchange. More African investors started buying shares at the exchange in early 1970s.

In the lead up to independence, the Kenyan stock market suffered its first free fall after the East African Trade Index wiped out almost half of its market value in two years’ time. The index had fallen to 56 points in May 1962 from 104.5 in January 1960.

This happened during the Lancaster Constitutional talks that culminated with a framework to independence in 1963. Investors were running away and there were even predictions that the economy would soon collapse.