NSE introduces Exchange Traded Fund counter

By Regina Manyara

You can now directly trade in gold after the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) introduced an Exchange Traded Fund counter with Barclays Kenya listing NewGold ETF.

Unlike other stocks, the cost of the ETF is determined by the price of gold in the international market.

Kenya is the seventh African country to have Exchange Traded Funds after South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius and Namibia.

The number of counters on the Nairobi Securities Exchange has increased after the bourse introduced an Exchange Traded Fund counter.

Barclays Kenya became the first company to list on the counter by availing 400,000 units of gold valued at half a billion shillings for trading targeted at investors from across East Africa.

Each NewGold security is equivalent to approximately 1/100th of an ounce of gold which will be held in secure depository on behalf of investors backed by physical gold.

The NewGold ETF which is also listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange will enable investors to trade in an instrument that tracks the price of Gold Bullion on the international market.

On the Treasury bond offered through the mobile phone dubbed M-Akiba that was launched last Thursday, the government has so far received subscriptions worth 40 million shillings.

The government targets to raise 150 million shillings through M-Akiba to finance infrastructure projects.