The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) identified 30 potential companies that can list through the Business Incubation and Acceleration forum held in May 2017. This is according to the Capital Markets Authority’s recent research paper on the low uptake of capital markets products in Kenya.
There have been barely any listings taking place at the bourse since 2014 when the last initial public offering (IPO) was held during the demutualisation of the NSE.
The CMA’s June 2018 research paper reads: “There is minimal activity in the IPO space. However, the market is expecting the dual listing of the National Oil Corporation on both the NSE and LSE in the near future.”
The GEMS Listing
Currently, the CMA is reorganising the presentation of the Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS) listed companies in the NSE price lists “by classifying the companies based on sectors rather than as separate segment at the bottom of the price list.”
Listed companies on GEMS are Atlas (AAI), Home Afrika (HAFR), Nairobi Business Ventures (NBV), Flame Tree (FTGH), and Kurwitu (KURV). Atlas was suspended last year in May for 90 days over non-compliance with rules.
The Growth Enterprise Market Segment mainly features small to medium enterprises. The NSE targets three to four new listings each year according to its 10-year Capital Markets Master Plan 2014.
Compared to Main Income Market Segment and the Alternative Investment Market Segment, the NSE has lower entry requirement for companies listing under GEMS.
