Kenya's KCB Group added to Morgan Stanley frontier market index

AFRICAN STOCKS AND FINANCEMay 27, 2024 at 2:50 PM UTC

TLDR

MSCI promotes Kenya's KCB Group to Frontier Markets Index, attracting global investor attention.
KCB moves up from small-cap to join Safaricom, Equity Group, and East African Breweries in the index.
Effective on May 31, the move marks KCB's return after being downgraded in 2019.

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), a global provider of investment data and analytics, has promoted Kenya's KCB Group to the MSCI Frontier Markets Index, enhancing the stock's visibility to international investors.

This promotion moves KCB from the small-cap index, joining Safaricom, Equity Group, and East African Breweries in the frontier markets index, which includes large and mid-cap stocks across 28 frontier markets.

The changes will take effect on May 31, marking KCB's return to the index after being downgraded to the small-cap index in November 2019.

Key Takeaways

The upgrade of KCB Group, the fourth-largest listed firm on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, follows a significant stock rally of 46.35% since the start of the year, second only to Liberty Kenya, whose share price has risen by 51.22% in the same period. KCB's inclusion in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index also comes after MSCI lifted its suspension on new Kenyan firms joining its global stocks market platform. This suspension, imposed in August 2022 due to dollar shortages, was removed in mid-May this year. MSCI cited improved liquidity in foreign exchange markets and better conditions for foreign investors to repatriate capital from Kenyan equity markets as reasons for ending the freeze.

KCB Group

MSCI

MSCI Frontier Markets Index

Safaricom

Equity Group

East African Breweries

Nairobi Securities Exchange

Stocks

Finance

Kenya