NSE needs to attract more companies, says capital markets

NAIROBI, KENYA: Capital Markets regulator said on Friday the Nairobi Stock Exchange needed to attract more companies to list to offset the few large companies that dominate trade.

Over 60 companies with a total market capitalisation of 2.8 trillion shillings ($27.94 billion) are listed on the exchange. But just one, the telecoms giant Safaricom, accounts for 1.1 trillion shillings of that, Thomson Reuters data show.

“You need to bring something else in to offset those concentrations,” Capital Markets Authority Chief Executive Paul Muthaura said.

Muthaura did not name any new companies planning Kenyan listings. The government plans a $1 billion dual listing of its state oil company by early 2019, which may help reduce the concentration at the NSE.

Market capitalisation nudged up to 2.8 trillion shillings in the first quarter, compared with 2.5 trillion shillings in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Foreign investors comprised 57 percent of total market turnover in March, compared with 64.6 percent in December.