This archive report was first published on 8 January 2020.
NSE outperforms Africa bourses in bank shares rally ¶
Published on January 8, 2020
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) outperformed its peers in Africa in 2019, driven by better returns from telecoms firm Safaricom and banking stocks that were attractive to foreign investors.
The NSE's All-Share Index (NASI) gained 18.5 percent to close the year at 166.41 points, making it the top performer among African bourses.
Foreign investors at the NSE made net inflows of Ksh1.86 billion ($18 million) in 2019, a significant turnaround from the back-to-back net selling of Ksh28.9 billion ($289 million) and Ksh11.9 billion ($119 million) in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
The NSE's performance was attributed to the stable shilling, which reduced currency fluctuation risk relative to other emerging markets.
"The fact that it outperformed other key markets means investors were more comfortable with main metrics such as stability of currency and free entry and exit of funds," said NSE chief executive Geoffrey Odundo.
Safaricom's share price rallied to hit Ksh31.65 ($0.31) at the close of the year, up from Ksh22.20 ($0.22) at the start of the year, reflecting a 42.57 percent growth over the period.
Kenyan bank shares also rallied following the removal of the cap on commercial loans, which had curbed lenders' profits.
Yesterday, Safaricom was the biggest mover of shares, followed by Equity and Barclays Bank and KCB. Cumulatively, they traded more than 15.5 million shares.
