The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) added 333,043 investors in the nine months to September 2026, taking the reported investor base to 2.36 million at the end of September, up from 2.027 million at the start of the year.
The increase is more than three times the number added over the same period in 2025, exceeds the 174,400 investors added during the whole of 2025, and approaches the 346,616 recorded over the four years to December 2025.
Compared with the nine-month period to September 2025, when 98,063 investors were added, the latest figure is about 3.4 times higher, indicating growth of roughly 240 per cent. The rise also surpasses the 55,060 additions in 2022, 58,400 in 2023 and 58,756 in 2024, following stronger gains of 98,116 in 2020 and 138,741 in 2021.
Market capitalisation climbed to KSh4.12 trillion at the end of September, up from KSh2.94 trillion at the close of 2025. The exchange first breached the KSh4 trillion mark on August 3, less than a year after reaching KSh3 trillion in November 2025.
Capital Markets Authority chief executive Wyckliffe Shamiah said the strong performance, including the market-capitalisation milestone, “demonstrated confidence, resilience and competitiveness in Kenya’s capital markets.”
Equity turnover in the nine-month period reached KSh395 billion, compared with KSh145 billion for the whole of 2025, driven in part by a KSh204.3 billion Safaricom block trade that accounted for about half of the turnover.
New listings have broadened investment options. Kenya Pipeline Company’s March IPO offered 11.81 billion shares at KSh9 each, ending an 11-year gap in major listings. Family Bank listed by introduction in June with 1.66 billion shares at KSh18, allowing existing shareholders to trade publicly. Quickmart’s public offer, together with the introductions of Trific Green I-REIT and Africa Logistics Properties’ dollar-denominated REIT, have further expanded the range of listed products.
The rally has made equities one of the best-performing asset classes in 2026, with NSE returns reported above 33 per cent, well ahead of average bank deposit rates of 6.94 per cent and Treasury bill yields below 10 per cent. Government long-dated bonds have reopened with coupons below 14 per cent, while unit-trust returns have largely mirrored Treasury bill yields.
Property returns have been more modest, with rental prices in Nairobi and satellite towns rising about 2.2 per cent in the first half of the year and standalone house prices increasing 3.1 per cent, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Digital platforms are facilitating market access. Ziidi Trader has extended its service to M-PESA users and to foreign passport holders, providing a mobile route to trade listed shares.
Capital Markets Authority data show men accounted for 1.593 million (67.5 per cent) of the retail investor base at the end of September, while women numbered 767,472.
