NSE’s Retail Storm...thanks to Ziidi Trader

Hello 👋🏽 It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street.

In today's newsletter,

• The NSE recorded an explosion of trades a day after Ziidi Trader was launched

• The Auditor General has flagged problematic portions in the government's oil deal with Gulf Energy

• Is carbon finance a credible way to scale clean cooking in Africa?

NSE’s Retail Storm…thanks to Ziidi Trader 

By Harry Njuguna  

A day after Safaricom launched Ziidi Trader, the Nairobi Securities Exchange suddenly felt busier. A record 25,700 trades were completed on February 11, as M-Pesa users began buying and selling shares directly from their phones. By placing stock trading inside a payments app, Safaricom has stripped away much of the paperwork and old barriers that kept small investors out. Kenya Power led in number of deals, Safaricom led in value, and the main index hit a new high. The bigger question now is whether this wave of small investors will stay and permanently change how the Kenyan stock market works.

Read the full analysis here >>>>>

Red flags in the new Turkana Oil Deal

By Brian Nzomo

As Parliament weighs new terms for Turkana’s oil blocks, the Auditor-General is warning that Kenya may be giving away its early earnings before the first export cargo even sails. At the center of her concern is a proposal to lift the cost-recovery ceiling to 85%, allowing the contractor to take a larger share of initial production as “cost oil” before profits are split with the state. In capital-heavy projects, that shift can push meaningful government revenue years into the future. Added tax exemptions and delayed audits, she cautions, risk compounding the effect by narrowing what ultimately flows to the Treasury. The debate is no longer just about getting oil out of the ground, but how much Kenya actually gets from this resource.

Read the full article here >>>>>

OPINION : Why Carbon Finance Is Still the Only Way to Scale Clean Cooking in Africa

By TKWS Reporter

The collapse of KOKO Networks has revived a familiar doubt: whether carbon credits can really carry the weight of Africa’s clean-cooking ambitions. Yet the harder truth is that the obstacle has never been technology, but price. A US$50 stove is out of reach for many households unless someone else absorbs most of the cost. Carbon finance, at its most effective, does precisely that, slashing upfront prices by as much as 90% and turning an unaffordable appliance into a near-impulse purchase. With high-integrity cook stove credits now fetching US$15 to US$25 a ton, the market has begun to reward projects that meet stricter standards. The real question is no longer whether carbon finance works, but whether governments and developers can navigate the rules well enough to keep the subsidies flowing.

Read the article here >>>>>

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Upcoming Events : InvestKenya Announces the Upcoming Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO) 2026

Taking place at the Radisson Blu Upper Hill on March 25, 2026, the 4th Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO) 2026 is set to be the largest and most impactful investment promotion conference in Kenya’s history. Register here »»»»»

During KIICO 2026, Kenya will also host the 2nd COMESA Investment Forum on March 26 and the Africa Green Industrialization Initiative (AGII) on March 27th.

Read more about it here »»»»»

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