Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has approved a new investment fund from Wall Street Africa (WSA), a Nairobi-based financial media and fintech startup, that will allow investors to buy into a group of listed banks in a single investment.

The WSA Banking exchange-traded fund (ETF) will hold shares in banks listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). According to CMA,  it will be Kenya’s first locally domiciled exchange-traded fund and is expected to list in the fourth quarter. 

The launch comes as Kenyan bank stocks lead a strong rally in the country’s equities market, with the NSE Banking Index up 30.9% this year through July. The new ETF allows investors to gain exposure to that broader banking rally through a single investment rather than picking individual stocks. 

WSA founder Erick Asuma told TechCabal on Tuesday that the company is targeting KES 5 billion to KES 7 billion ($38.6 million to $54.1 million) in committed capital at launch, with the fund expected to attract mainly retail investors over time.

How the ETF works

An ETF is a fund that holds a group of investments but trades on a stock exchange like a normal share. Instead of deciding how much to allocate to local banks and other listed lenders, investors can buy units in the WSA Banking ETF to gain exposure to the group with a single investment.

The WSA fund will track the NSE Banking Index by investing in the bank shares that make up the index, so the value of an investor’s units will rise or fall as the underlying bank shares rise or fall. Tradiam Asset Managers, a Kenyan fund management firm, will manage the fund, and investors will trade the ETF units on the NSE.

Buying one bank’s shares leaves an investor exposed to that company’s performance, while buying the ETF spreads that exposure across the banking sector, so a weak performance by one lender can be offset by gains at others. The trade-off is that an investor also gives up some of the upside that could come from picking a single bank that performs far better than the rest.

Kenya’s first exchange-traded fund

The product also expands a small ETF market on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. There are currently two listed ETFs, the Absa NewGold ETF, which tracks gold, and the Satrix MSCI World Feeder ETF, which provides exposure to global equities. 

Unlike the two ETFs already trading on the NSE, which are South African funds, the WSA Banking ETF will be the first on the NSE, specifically on publicly listed Kenyan companies. 

The launch comes as bank stocks lead a rally in Kenyan equities. According to NSE data compiled by WSA, the banking index has gained 62% since October 2025, suggesting the rally has extended beyond a few large lenders and has been broad across the sector.

“The banking sector has consistently been one of the best-performing segments of the Exchange and ranked among the world’s best performing in terms of return on investment. The WSA Banking ETF gives both local and international investors a simple, transparent and cost-effective way to participate in that growth story,” Asuma said. 

The market capitalisation of the banks involved shows the scale of the sector. Equity Group is valued at KES 327.4 billion ($2.5 billion), KCB Group at KES 257.1 billion ($2.0 billion) and Co-operative Bank at KES 204.8 billion ($1.6 billion). 

According to NSE data, I&M Group has posted the biggest gain among the larger banks this year at 60.6%, followed by Stanbic Holdings at 47.5% and Co-operative Bank at 46.1%.

The wider stock market has also rallied. The NSE had gained 33% by the end of June, while the exchange’s total market value had crossed KES 4 trillion ($30.9 billion), less than nine months after passing KES 3 trillion ($23.2 billion).

According to Asuma, the ETF will be denominated in Kenyan shillings and its underlying shares trade in shillings, so investors will not take on foreign exchange exposure through the fund’s investments. Its value will still move with bank share prices and could be affected by interest rates, bank earnings, regulation and wider economic conditions.

Wall Street Africa will publish the final information memorandum, subscription timetable and listing details before the listing. 

“The ETF is expected to deepen participation in Kenya’s capital markets by providing both local and foreign investors with an innovative and liquid investment instrument,” Asuma noted. 

True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.