Barclays Bank of Kenya has launched a stock brokerage subsidiary dubbed Barclays Financial Services Limited bringing a range of new investment products and services to the country’s vibrant financial market.
According to Jeremy Awori, Managing Director, Barclays Bank of Kenya, “BFSL is set to bring far more to the Kenyan market than a solid capital base, embedded continental reach and a market leading brokerage team. We have combined these elements for a purpose, and that is to launch new services, new investment options and a new level of research in our stock broking market. We believe that this will contribute to the rise in the competitive position of the Nairobi Securities Exchange.”
Apart from offering cash equity trading services, fixed income and bond trading and derivatives, the arm is also set to launch Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and a key research portal, Barclays Live, to provide indices, data and analytical tools, and clients sector-based research, across agriculture, business services, commodities, financial institutions, global development organisations, healthcare manufacturing, transport and logistics.
BFSL will be active in nine other African markets, being Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Currently, Kenya is the third largest stock-market hub in Sub-Saharan Africa after the South African JSE and Nigeria’s SEC, but its move into ETFs is poised to make it an even more competitive investment hub.
