FILE PHOTO: Geoffrey Odundo, Chief Executive of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, speaks during a Reuters interview at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Nairobi NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan bourse operator Nairobi Securities Exchange will defend its market share from a new bond-trading rival, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
Until now, the NSE has offered the only bonds trading platform in East Africa’s biggest economy and trading of fixed-income instruments contributes 7% of its annual income.
But CEO Geoffrey Odundo said a new platform, to be known as the East African Bonds Exchange, is being established by Kenya’s finance ministry and local banks, Geoffrey Odundo told Reuters.
He did not provide more details.
Officials at the ministry, and at the umbrella Kenya Bankers’ Association, said they did not have information about the exchange when Reuters contacted them.
Although operator charges for bonds trading are lower than for those levied on equities, Odundo said it would still be necessary for the NSE to defend its market share.
"You cannot sit pretty when competition is coming, you have to strengthen your business," he said.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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