The NSE at a glance

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

In today's newsletter…

• Read our monthly analysis of stocks which performed at the NSE. All the numbers are digested for you.

• Why millions of homes may have to slump back into using dirty sources of energy to cook.

These and more…

MARKETS REVIEW : The NSE at a Glance 

By Harry Njuguna

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) closed the final trading week of January 2026 on a firmer footing, extending gains from earlier in the month as turnover accelerated and foreign investors returned to net buying.

• The advance capped a constructive January, following a strong 2025, but trading patterns continued to show selective risk-taking rather than broad-based accumulation.

• The NSE 20 Share Index rose 0.98% to 3,299.28, while the All Share Index (NASI) added 0.39% to 195.36, marking its highest weekly close this year.

• The NSE 25 gained 0.38% to 5,321.96, and the NSE 10 climbed 0.89% to 2,046.82

Continue reading here >>>>>

The Bank-Driven Stock Market

By Harry Njuguna

January showed who really controls the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). As foreign investors sold and turnover fell, a handful of banks quietly took over price discovery and pushed the indices higher anyway. This was not a broad market rally but a concentrated vote of confidence in balance sheets, dividends, and consolidation. The rest of the market barely participated. What looked like momentum was really power shifting further toward the banking sector.

Read the full analysis here >>>>>

Snapshot

A Clean-Cooking Startup Collapses…Here is why?

By Brian Nzomo

Clean-Cooking Startup, Koko, shut down after the government refused to authorize the sale of its carbon credits. That decision removed the revenue stream that allowed the company to subsidize bioethanol fuel and cooking stoves. More than 700 employees have been laid off and service to about 1.5 million households stopped overnight. After internal review, the company concluded it could not remain solvent without regulatory approval.

Read the story here »»»»»

INSIGHT : Four Decades of Mergers That Remade Kenya’s Banking System

By Harry Njuguna 

Kenya’s banking consolidation has entered a new phase, where the central question is no longer stability or expansion, but control. What began in the 1990s as state-led rescues and regulatory clean-up has evolved into a steady transfer of ownership to foreign banks. Recent and proposed deals, spanning South African and Nigerian lenders, show consolidation now driven by who governs balance sheets and strategy, not who survives. Domestic mergers have thinned, while cross-border acquisitions increasingly define the system’s direction.

Read the analysis here >>>>>

Heads Up 

On your watchlist 

Coming Soon!

This coming week, Andrew Barden, CEO of The Kenyan Wall Street will moderate a webinar session will examine how global institutions are quietly reshaping the crypto market and what this evolution means for Kenya. Register your attendance here »»»»»

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.

Key areas of focus during KIICO 2026: Agriculture, Finance, Economic zones and Textiles & Apparel, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), E-mobility, Clean Cooking, Renewable Energy, Waste Management, Mining, and the Creative Economy.

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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