The Capital Markets Authority reports that the value of shares traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) rose to Sh395 billion in the nine months to September 2026, more than double the Sh145 billion traded in all of 2025.

Applying the top brokerage rate of 1.78 percent on both the buy and sell sides of each trade, brokers could have earned a maximum of Sh14 billion in commissions during the same period.

Actual earnings are likely lower because large transactions often attract discounted rates, yet brokerage commissions rose 73 percent to Sh2.76 billion in the first half of 2026.

A single block trade in June, where the government sold a 15 percent stake in Safaricom to Vodacom for about Sh204.3 billion, accounted for roughly 51.7 percent of the nine‑month turnover.

Even without the Safaricom transaction, turnover would have been about Sh190.7 billion, still well above the total volume recorded in 2025.

New listings added depth to the market, including Kenya Pipeline Company’s March IPO of 11.81 billion shares at Sh9 each, Family Bank’s June introduction, and an ongoing public offer by Quickmart.

Investor participation expanded sharply, with the NSE adding 333,043 new investors in the nine‑month period, bringing the total investor base to 2.36 million.

The exchange’s own revenue more than doubled to Sh1.2 billion in the first half of 2026, driven largely by the equity transaction levy, while bond‑market turnover reached Sh2.54 trillion by September.