The value of shares traded at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in the three months to March 2025 grew by six per cent to Sh2.06 trillion, up from Sh1.94 trillion in the preceding three months.
This was mainly driven by the relative stability of the shilling, an increase in share trading activity, and cautious confidence in Kenya’s market by foreign investors.
According to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Quarterly Bulletin, the stock market recorded robust performance in the first quarter of 2025, with gains in equity market capitalisation, share trading volume and bond turnover.
CMA CEO Wyckliffe Shamiah said that compared to a similar period last year, the growth in market capitalisation represented a 16.36per cent increase from Sh1.77 trillion in Q1 2024.
“Quarter on quarter, the volume of shares traded grew by 43.64per cent to 1.58 billion shares, compared to 1.10 billion in the same quarter last year,” said Shamiah.
Correspondingly, equity turnover rose by 37.77per cent, reaching Sh26.27 billion in Q1 2025 from Sh19.07 billion in Q1 2024.
The financial market also got a boost from reduced capital flights in the three months of the year.
Data by CMA shows that foreign investors took less money out of Kenya's capital markets compared to the previous quarter.
Between January and March, the net amount of money that left the market was Sh3.26 billion. This was a big improvement from the Sh16.64 billion that was withdrawn in the last three months of 2024.
In the period, the Nairobi Securities Exchange’s derivatives market — where investors trade financial contracts based on the value of assets like shares — experienced mixed performance.
The total money changing hands in this segment, known as turnover, dropped by 30.68 per cent, falling to Sh29.86 million from Sh43.08 million in the previous quarter.
Interestingly, even though less money was involved overall, the number of contracts traded more than doubled — jumping by 161.66 per cent. At the same time, the number of individual deals made fell sharply by 65.18 per cent.
In the government securities market, the Central Bank of Kenya issued eight fixed-coupon treasury bonds, comprising five re-openings and three buy-backs.
The government targeted Sh175 billion in fundraising but received bids totaling Sh356 billion, accepting Sh264.63 billion—a 151.22per cent acceptance rate.
The secondary bond market experienced a remarkable 95.23per cent surge in turnover, closing the quarter at Sh725.34 billion, nearly doubling the Sh371.52 billion recorded in Q4 2024.
This marks a strong start to the year, given that total bond turnover for the full 2024 calendar year stood at Sh1.54 trillion.
The low-risk nature of investing in government securities saw investors pump Sh168.4 billion into government securities in the three months to December 2024, new data from the Capital Markets Authority has shown. This was a 26 percent increase from the previous three months.
Meanwhile, the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) sector saw total assets under management rise to Sh389.2 billion at the end of 2024, a 23per cent increase from Sh316.4 billion in Q3 2024.
The growth was driven by heightened investor interest in money market funds and intensified marketing by fund managers.
“In Q4 2024, 42per cent (Sh164.8 billion) of the total assets under management were invested in government securities. Government securities include Treasury bonds and Treasury bills. The least amount of the AUM, at 2 per cent (Sh6.6 billion), was in other CIS,” reads the report.
