CBK, Clearstream Launch Market Link to Open Kenyan Bonds to Global Investors
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Clearstream have announced the launch of the Clearstream-Kenya Link, a new market infrastructure connection expected to make it significantly easier for international investors to access Kenyan government securities.
The link connects Clearstream, the post-trade settlement arm of Deutsche Börse Group, directly to Kenya’s Government Central Securities Depository, known as DhowCSD. Through a dedicated omnibus account structure, institutional investors abroad will now be able to access Kenyan government bonds, infrastructure bonds and treasury bills more efficiently, without needing to navigate the local market independently.
The link rides on infrastructure CBK has been building for close to three years. DhowCSD was launched by President William Ruto in 2023 as a system allowing traders in government securities in local, regional and international markets to transact electronically, providing registry, custodial and settlement services for both primary and secondary market operations. At the time, the President said the platform would deepen the domestic capital market and promote savings and investment while delivering efficiency without compromising security, and that investors would no longer need to visit the central bank in person to open a CSD account.
In the months following its July 2023 go-live, DhowCSD added more than 7,000 new investor accounts, against a base of 44,000 that existed before launch. The system has since been positioned by CBK as a tool for integrating Kenya’s government securities market with international financial markets, not just facilitating domestic and cross-border trading.
The Clearstream-Kenya Link is only the second such connection on the continent, after South Africa, where Strate serves as the central securities depository handling equities, bonds and money market securities for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and other local exchanges. Clearstream has built its access to that market over many years through local settlement agents, and Kenya now becomes the next African market to be folded into that global network, the 60th worldwide.
Kenya has in recent years leaned more heavily on its domestic debt market to plug budget financing gaps, partly to reduce exposure to expensive external borrowing and currency risk. A direct settlement link with one of the world’s largest international central securities depositories removes a layer of friction for foreign fund managers who previously had to rely on local custodian arrangements to participate in Kenyan T-bills and bonds.
CBK said the Link is expected to deepen liquidity, broaden the investor base and strengthen the resilience of the domestic debt market, outcomes that would also support the government’s ability to raise long-term shilling-denominated debt at more competitive rates, easing pressure on the cost of borrowing.
CBK reiterated its commitment to upgrading Kenya’s financial market infrastructure to “premier status,” continuing a modernisation drive that began with DhowCSD’s launch and has since expanded into digital access and market-deepening initiatives aimed at broader financial inclusion and more effective monetary policy operations.
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