Nairobi bourse, investors must widen and deepen perspective

Public Transport Stakeholders get first-hand information on the battery recharging process from Basigo Electric Bus Officials at the Company Mombasa road Offices. [Samson Wire. Standard].

This week, business news in Kenya have been dominated by the news of the high levels of trade in Safaricom shares. Analysts and reporters have characterised the events of the week differently, with quite a bit of the attention being on the company itself. In my view, however, we should be looking at the bigger picture; the market itself.

That Safaricom is the biggest actor in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) is not in doubt. This means that any movement in the stock will shake up the market. I am sure that comes as no surprise to any investor or anyone that watches the market. However, what we fail to see as we are looking at Safaricom is how dull the market is, that any move in its primary stock engulfs the business cycle.