The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) cemented its position as one of Africa’s leading equity markets in 2025 after ranking second on the continent for dollarised returns, while also ranking strongly in market liquidity, according to data from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).
Kenya’s stock market delivered a 52.2 percent dollar return in 2025, placing it second among 10 African markets tracked under the MSCI frontier and emerging market indices.
The MSCI indices track the performance of selected large- and mid-cap companies, providing global investors with benchmarks that influence capital flows, liquidity, and price discovery.
Only Egypt outperformed Kenya, posting a 99 percent gain, supported by strong rallies in heavyweight stocks such as Commercial International Bank and TMG Holding, alongside a 6.2 percent appreciation of the Egyptian pound against the dollar.
Elsewhere on the continent, Nigeria ranked third with returns of 47.2 percent, followed by Zimbabwe (44.5 percent), Côte d’Ivoire (43.6 percent), Morocco (36.3 percent), and Tunisia (32.5 percent). South Africa gained 30.1 percent, Senegal 23.4 percent, while Mauritius trailed with a return of 2.2 percent.
The NSE closed the year at 1,391.28 points and is represented by 18 companies on the MSCI Frontier Markets and Small-Cap indices.
According to an OECD report published in November 2025, Kenya ranked fourth in Africa for equity market liquidity at 6 percent, behind Egypt (50 percent), South Africa (28 percent), and Morocco (9 percent).
On the NSE, large-cap constituents included Safaricom, Equity Group, East African Breweries (EABL), KCB Group, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya. The MSCI Frontier Markets Small-Cap Index featured BAT Kenya, KenGen, Kenya Re, Kenya Power, DTB Group, Carbacid Investments, Jubilee Holdings, CIC Insurance Group, Williamson Tea Kenya, Centum Investment Company, and HF Group.
Among large-cap stocks, Safaricom led gains with a 66.3 percent rise, followed by KCB Group at 58.1 percent and EABL at 49.9 percent. On the small-cap index, Kenya Power surged 182.7 percent, KenGen gained 152.2 percent, Kenya Re rose 135.2 percent, and HF Group advanced 120.8 percent, though their lower index weighting limited their impact on the overall market return.
The shilling ended the year largely flat against the dollar, gaining just 0.1 percent. As a result, dollarised returns closely reflected local-currency equity performance. This contrasts with 2024, when a 21 percent appreciation of the shilling helped propel the NSE to the top of Africa’s MSCI performance rankings with a 65.3 percent gain.
Despite the strong showing, structural challenges persist. MSCI notes limited competition among brokers, high trading costs, the absence of a central securities registry, and restrictions on off-exchange and in-kind transfers.
While Kenya currently has no additional documentation requirements restricting capital repatriation, operational efficiency remains under assessment.
