Kenya is the largest economy in Eastern and Central Africa and a renowned cash-crop exporting nation with a growing financial services and telecommunications sector. Kenya is a democratic republic and member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, COMESA and International Criminal Court. It is therefore politically stable with a clear rule of law when compared to neighbouring territories.
In 2019, Kenya ranked 56 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, up from 113 in 2016.
What is Kenya’s economic outlook?
Kenya’s economy contracted by 0.4% in the first half of 2020, compared with an expansion of 5.4% in the previous year.
The economy is expected to rebound relatively quickly during 2021 with GDP increasing by 6.9% during the period (highest in sub-Saharan Africa).
What does the retail FX landscape look like?
According to local commentary, there are 70,000 retail traders in Kenya. However, we estimate the actual mature addressable market to be 80% higher than this figure.
There are currently four non-dealing online foreign exchange brokers licensed by the CMA to operate in Kenya: EGM Securities Ltd Equiti (FXPesa), SCFM Ltd (Scope Markets), Pepperstone Markets Kenya Ltd (Pepperstone) and Exinity Capital East Africa Ltd (Exinity).
According to Forbes, forex trading involves the speculative buying and selling of currencies in quest of profit. It can also be used to ‘hedge’ existing currency bets against a backdrop of exchange rate fluctuations (Hedging is where you protect a financial position against the potential of making a loss).
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