Thursday M-Akiba bond sale attracts 451 investors

National Treasury CS Henry Rotich

• M-Akiba bond is traded exclusively on mobile handset
• Inaugural launch of the bond was in March where over Sh1M of the total Sh150m offered was purchased within the first one hour.
• Latest issue was launched on June 30, targets to raise Sh1 billion

NAIROBI, KENYA: The sale of Sh1 billion M-Akiba bond continued on Thursday with 451 investors registered by midday.

This follows a 2-month extension by the National Treasury following lackluster participation which saw government miss the targeted Sh1billion by over 80 percent as of Friday last week, when the bond sale was expected to close.

The Thursday’s figure of 451 puts the total registered investors so far at 256, 697. This translates to Incoming buys of Sh1, 085,500 on the same day but adding to a total of Sh153, 597,358 since the bond was issued.

M-Akiba is a government bond traded exclusively on mobile handset and was launched early this year in what analysts termed as a window of opportunity for small investors.

National Treasury CS Henry Rotich said the government is using the platform for local borrowing.

“We are using it as one of the avenue for local borrowing but this is one way to allow as many Kenyans as possible to participate in Treasury Bills, promote financial inclusion and boost our infrastructure financing,” he said.

“The returns are better than even the current deposit rates and it is convenient to participate in using your mobile phone from wherever you are,” he noted.