Kenya’s leading telecom operator Safaricom has begun offering stock trading services through its popular M-Pesa mobile money platform, enabling millions of users to buy and sell shares listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) directly from their mobile phones. The initiative is designed to broaden retail participation in Kenya’s capital markets, Reuters reported.
The service, branded Ziidi Trader, allows Safaricom’s roughly 35 million M-Pesa customers to trade equities without opening a traditional brokerage account. By integrating the feature within the existing M-Pesa interface, the company aims to lower entry barriers that have historically limited access to stock market investing, as detailed in reports carried by Yahoo Finance.
Safaricom partnered with Nairobi-based Kestrel Capital to facilitate trade execution, with transactions conducted through an omnibus account structure under regulatory oversight from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The platform includes standard investment tools such as portfolio tracking and price alerts to support informed decision-making.
The launch expands Safaricom’s broader Ziidi investment ecosystem, which already includes a money market fund and other digital savings products. Analysts say the move aligns with efforts by the NSE and regulators to deepen financial inclusion and stimulate greater domestic investor participation in Kenya’s equity market.
