This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
Kenya's financial markets have been ranked as the third most advanced in Africa, according to the Absa Financial Markets Index, published on October 25, 2019.
The index, which assesses the depth and accessibility of financial markets in various African countries, found that Kenya's financial markets depth leads the East African region, with a score of 65, followed by Tanzania (55), Rwanda (53), Uganda (52), and Ethiopia (27).
Kenya's position as a leader in financial markets innovation was also highlighted in the report, which cited products such as M-Akiba that allow retail investors to access government bonds through their mobile phones.
However, the report also noted that Kenya's position when it comes to foreign exchange liquidity has dropped to the fifth following the IMF's reclassification of its exchange rate regime to 'other managed arrangement' from floating.
Barclays Kenya, now Absa, continues to be a key player in the country's financial markets, delivering initiatives that transform the capital markets space, according to Jeremy Awori, the bank's managing director.
One such initiative is the bank's partnership with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to launch the 10-year CMA master plan, which aims to facilitate the development of Kenya's financial markets.
The bank was also the first financial institution in the region to list an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the New Gold ETF on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, which has been one of the best-performing asset classes on the exchange, netting returns of over 20% since the start of the year.
