Kenya licenses Safaricon and Airtel Money to expand digital trading sector
Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has officially licensed Safaricom PLC and Airtel Money Kenya Limited to operate as Intermediary Service Platform Providers (ISPPs).
This regulatory approval, announced on Monday, is set to transform Kenya’s investment landscape by allowing millions of mobile users to access regulated capital markets directly from their phones.
The licensing of Safaricom and Airtel Money as ISPPs marks a strategic shift in how Kenyans interact with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). As intermediaries, these platforms will facilitate the marketing and distribution of approved Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), such as money market funds and equities, bridging the gap between fund managers and retail investors.
Following the successful pilot of its Money Market Fund Ziidi, Safaricom is expected to integrate trading features within the M-PESA app fully. Users will be able to open accounts and execute trades in under two minutes with as little as KES 100.
Airtel Money, on the other hand, is equally expected to leverage its growing subscriber base to offer similar investment products, fostering a more competitive and diverse digital finance ecosystem for Kenyans.
CMA Chief Executive Officer Wyckliffe Shamiah described the approvals as a critical step toward aligning the capital markets with the national agenda of increasing the savings-to-GDP ratio.
“These licenses are key to offering Kenyans a broader range of investment opportunities,” said Shamiah. “By meeting investors where their money already resides, in their mobile wallets, we can tap into a vast pool of household liquidity that was previously disconnected from the capital markets.”
Alongside the telecommunications giants, the CMA also granted a license to CC Kenya Securities Limited, trading as Capital.com, to operate as a Dealing Online Foreign Exchange Broker.
To date, the CMA has licensed 13 non-dealing online forex brokers and two dealing brokers, reflecting growing institutional interest in Kenya’s digital trading sector.
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