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Unlocking New Listings on the Nairobi Bourse

Oct 21, 2018

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has struggled to attract new listings, having only raised Kshs 4.2 bn in two initial public offers (IPO’s) in the last 5-years, with one each in 2014 and 2015 by NSE and Stanlib Investments, respectively. Currently the bourse has 64 listed stocks with a total market capitalization of Kshs 2.16 tn, of which Safaricom controls 44.0% market share. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has raised concerns that Kenya has been unable to achieve its projected listings targets as articulated in its Capital Markets Master Plan, which envisions at least four listings on the NSE every year. CMA has also noted that a few large cap stocks, namely Safaricom PLC, East African Breweries Ltd, Equity group Holdings and KCB Group Ltd, hold almost 75.0% of the total market capitalization, making the market volatile, due to the dependence on these few...

Cytonn Corporate Governance Index Report - 2018

Oct 14, 2018

Corporate governance constitutes the mechanisms, processes and relations used to direct and manage the business and affairs of a company. Corporate governance is founded on the pillars that businesses have to practice accountability to stakeholders, fairness, have transparency in business activities, and exhibit independence in decision making. Corporate governance has taken centre stage given the recent bank failures and operational crisis in firms such as: ARM Cement, after three-years of incurring heavy losses following an ambitious yet ultimately unsuccessful expansion plan, became the second major company to be placed under administration in 2018. In August 2018, the NSE issued a statement that it had suspended trading of ARM’s shares, Chase Bank, which was also placed under receivership in 2016 following cases of unsound banking practices such as large unsecured loans to directors. In 2018, it was a...

Kenya Macroeconomic Review

Sep 30, 2018

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya’s economy expanded by 6.3% in Q2’2018, higher than 4.7% in Q2’2017. This was due to (i) recovery of agricultural sector, which recorded a growth of 5.6% due to improved weather conditions, (ii) improved business and consumer confidence, and (iii) increased output in the real estate, manufacturing, and wholesale & retail trade sectors, which grew by 6.6%, 3.1% and 7.7% respectively. For a more comprehensive analysis see the Q2’2018 Quarterly GDP Review and Outlook note During Q3’2018, we tracked Kenya’s GDP growth projections for FY’2018 released by 15 organizations, that comprised of research houses, global agencies, and government organizations. The average GDP growth, including our projection of 5.5% as at Q3’2018, came in at 5.5%, unchanged from average projecti...

Sub Saharan Africa Regional Review

Sep 30, 2018

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya’s economy expanded by 6.3% in Q2’2018, higher than 4.7% in Q2’2017. This was due to (i) recovery of agricultural sector, which recorded a growth of 5.6% due to improved weather conditions, (ii) improved business and consumer confidence, and (iii) increased output in the real estate, manufacturing, and wholesale & retail trade sectors, which grew by 6.6%, 3.1% and 7.7% respectively. For a more comprehensive analysis see the Q2’2018 Quarterly GDP Review and Outlook note During Q3’2018, we tracked Kenya’s GDP growth projections for FY’2018 released by 15 organizations, that comprised of research houses, global agencies, and government organizations. The average GDP growth, including our projection of 5.5% as at Q3’2018, came in at 5.5%, unchanged from average projecti...

Global Markets Review

Sep 30, 2018

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya’s economy expanded by 6.3% in Q2’2018, higher than 4.7% in Q2’2017. This was due to (i) recovery of agricultural sector, which recorded a growth of 5.6% due to improved weather conditions, (ii) improved business and consumer confidence, and (iii) increased output in the real estate, manufacturing, and wholesale & retail trade sectors, which grew by 6.6%, 3.1% and 7.7% respectively. For a more comprehensive analysis see the Q2’2018 Quarterly GDP Review and Outlook note During Q3’2018, we tracked Kenya’s GDP growth projections for FY’2018 released by 15 organizations, that comprised of research houses, global agencies, and government organizations. The average GDP growth, including our projection of 5.5% as at Q3’2018, came in at 5.5%, unchanged from average projecti...