Kenya’s bid to have small and medium-sized enterprises raise fresh capital through the Nairobi Securities Exchange faces new hurdles over diminishing investor interest, declining stock prices, the poor performance of existing listed firms and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EastAfrican has learnt that the NSE has not attracted a single company in close to a decade and is also struggling to attract companies to its incubation programme, which is designed to prepare potential issuers to raise capital through the exchange.
The programme dubbed ‘Ibuka’ was launched in December 2018 through a partnership between the NSE and the Kenya Association of Stockbrokers and Investment Banks (Kasib) to help selected Kenyan companies fast-track their development process by accessing financial advisers and consultants to help them structure their businesses, enhance visibility and get exposure to local and international investors.
“Some companies say they want some time to review their positions and we will still revisit these plans with some of them to see if they are still interested in listing,” said Mr Mwai, adding that Ibuka is not a panacea to the initial public offering drought at the NSE.
“The programme creates a good pipeline of companies that have the potential of listing in future,” said Mr Mwai, who is also the chief executive of AIB Capital.
