Kenya Pipeline shares debut on NSE at Ksh.9.30

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC PLC) commenced trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) with an opening price of Ksh.9.30 per share, signaling strong investor interest on the first days of trading.

President William Ruto said this is a strategic shift in how Kenya finances its development, moving away from excessive reliance on debt and taxation.

The listing is expected to expand opportunities for investors while elevating the stature of the NSE from a frontier market to emerging market standards.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said: “We strongly root for the capital markets as the most strategic tool that supports economic growth through the provision of capital, encouraging investment, and improving market systems. It's one of the most powerful mechanisms we have for mobilising savings, directing investment, and generating wealth.”

President Ruto stated: “Let us assume that we brought an amount equivalent to the proceeds of the privatisation at say 12.5 percent interest rate. We would pay an annual interest of 13.5 billion every year which is nearly four times the three or four billion dividend that the 65 percent Kenyan Pipeline government shareholding would have continued earning the exchequers.”

According to NSE Board Chairperson Kiprono Kittony, the listing further expands opportunities for investors, adding that this is a step in elevating the stature of the NSE from a frontier market towards emerging-market standards.

Noting that the reforms undertaken by the bourse have removed long-standing barriers to entry for investors, he however cautioned the political class from interfering with market activity.

“To the political class, as a nation, we must safeguard the credibility of our market. The progress we have made should not be taken for granted. It has taken many years of discipline, sound policy, and truths building the political class should not politicise this market,” Kittony said.

The listing of the Kenya Pipeline Company at the NSE now offers an investment opportunity to both retail and institutional investors, with the outgoing chair of the bourse calling for a decoupling of politics from market affairs.