Elections could dent capital markets recovery according to regulator

Kenya’s capital markets remained resilient during the first quarter of the year ended March despite the uncertainties brought by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ongoing drought in the country.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Chief Executive Officer Wycliffe Shamiah however says uncertainty caused by the 2022 general election poses key risks to the recovery of domestic capital markets.

“The Capital Markets remained resilient during the quarter under review. The Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertainty on the 2022 elections and the seemingly tough economic context pose key risks to steadying the recovery of domestic capital markets. Kenya’s economy is projected to weather the exogenous shocks, the re-emergence of covid -19 and the effects of adverse weather conditions to register a 6.0 % growth rate in the year 2022,” said Shamiah.

While releasing the 2022 Capital Markets Soundness Report Shamiah says the market will be boosted by the approval from the National Assembly to implement the Capital Markets Share Buyback Guidelines.

Shamiah further says the authority has completed consultation and validation sessions on three sets of regulations and is now in engagements with National Treasury and Planning on publication.

These regulations include Capital Markets Whistle Blower Regulations 2022, Capital Markets Crowd-funding Regulations 2022, and Capital Markets Collective Investments Schemes Regulations cum Alternative Investment Funds Regulations 2022.

The Authority is also in the process of finalizing its Public Offers, Listing, and Disclosures Regulations (POLD), as well as the Private Equity regulatory frameworks and, will soon.

“The Authority is dedicated to continue working with industry players, policy makers and relevant stakeholders to facilitate access to capital markets financing. I applaud the capital markets industry participants for their resilience and innovation in re-structuring their businesses to ensure that the market continues to grow,” added Shamiah.

The Authority says it is ready to support market players to offer customized investment products to the diaspora and is in support of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2021 which seeks to set up a voluntary savings scheme for Kenyans in the diaspora.