- He takes over when the country's capital markets are experiencing a bear
- He thanked those who came before him and laid the foundation of capital markets through the National Treasury and Economic Planning.
Image: HANDOUT
The new Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman, Ugas Sheikh Mohamed, has promised to position the authority to support the National Government’s Development Agenda.
He takes over from Nicholas Nesbitt who had served for less than two years as President William Ruto sustains his purge of appointees of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
"I will work closely with the CMA Board, industry, Government and other stakeholders to take the Authority to the next level to ensure the capital markets play their pivotal role in facilitating enhanced economic growth and development,'' Mohamed said on Friday when he officially took office.
He thanked those who came before him and laid the foundation of capital markets through the National Treasury and Economic Planning.
The chairman introduced the new independent directors; Prof. Michael Bowen, Meshack Moses Kiprono, Natalia Aduwo, Elena Pellegrini and Gibson Kimani Maina.
They replace John Kipkosgei Birech, Freshia Mugo Waweru, Mark Bichachi, Eli Kamau and Peter Mungai who were recently exed by the Kenya Kwanza government.
The appointment of Ugas Mohamed as the new CMA chair comes at a time when the markets need to be reinvigorated to spur economic growth and development after a dry spell in the local capital markets struggling in recent years with low volumes and a lack of new listings.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE) lost Sh610 billion in investor wealth in the quarter that ended December 2022 as investors sought safer investments following a bearish run at the exchange.
According to the latest Statistical bulletin, NSE market capitalization stood at Sh1.96 trillion as of December 2022, a 23.40 per cent decrease from Sh2.59 trillion in December 2021.
During the period, the top five stocks at the NSE either recorded a drop in capitalization or slow growth, signaling their significance in the Kenyan capital markets.