The Capital Markets Authority has approved the WSA Banking ETF for listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, clearing the way for the bourse’s third exchange-traded fund and the first ever issued by a Kenyan firm rather than a foreign one. The listing still needs final sign-off from the NSE and completion of remaining pre-listing requirements before it goes live.
Wall Street Africa issues the fund, with Tradiam Asset Managers acting as fund manager. Until now, every ETF on the NSE has come from South African issuers: the Absa NewGold ETF, which tracks physical gold, and the Satrix MSCI World Feeder ETF, which tracks developed-market equities abroad. The WSA Banking ETF breaks that pattern and gives investors a locally built vehicle instead.
The fund tracks the NSE Banking Index and weights its holdings by market capitalisation across all 11 listed banks: Equity Group, KCB Group, Co-operative Bank, Absa Bank Kenya, NCBA Group, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, Stanbic Holdings, I&M Group, Diamond Trust Bank, HF Group and BK Group. Because both the ETF units and the underlying shares trade in Kenya Shillings, investors avoid the currency risk that comes with holding foreign-linked products.
The regulator described the mechanics plainly: the fund “will seek to replicate, as closely as practicable, the performance of the designated NSE Banking Index by investing all its assets in the constituent banking sector shares.”
CMA Chief Executive Wyckliffe Shamiah called the approval “an important milestone in the continued development of Kenya’s capital markets.” Wall Street Africa co-founder and CEO Eric Asuma pointed to the sector’s track record, noting the banks have ranked among “one of the best performing segments of the Exchange.”
Tradiam founder Eric Ruenji said his team’s “focus is now on completing the remaining operational and listing requirements” ahead of a targeted launch in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Fund Targets KES 5-7 Billion at Launch
Asuma told TechCabal that Wall Street Africa is targeting between KES 5 billion and KES 7 billion (roughly $38.6 million to $54.1 million) in committed capital when the ETF launches, with retail investors expected to make up most of the fund’s holders over time. He described the product as an “innovative and liquid investment instrument” meant to deepen participation in Kenya’s capital markets for both local and foreign investors.
Asuma also confirmed that because the ETF is denominated in shillings and its underlying bank shares trade in shillings, investors take on no foreign-exchange exposure through the fund itself — though its value will still move with bank share prices and can be influenced by interest rates, earnings and broader economic conditions.
Banks Are Powering One Of The Market’s Strongest Runs
The NSE had climbed 33 percent year-to-date by the end of June 2026, ranking fourth among the world’s best-performing markets behind South Korea, Nigeria and Japan. Total market value crossed KSh 4 trillion for the first time, a jump from KSh 3 trillion reached less than nine months earlier, driven largely by Safaricom and the listed banks.
Banking stocks have led that charge. The NSE Banking Index returned 30.9 percent in 2026 through July, outpacing bonds and every other major index on the exchange, and it has gained 62 percent since its October 2025 launch.
KCB Group, Equity Bank and Co-operative Bank all placed among Africa’s top 25 lenders by Tier 1 capital in the latest Banker Top 1,000 World Banks rankings, reinforcing Kenya’s standing as East Africa’s banking hub.
| Bank | Market Cap | YTD | 1 Year | 5 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Group | KSh 327.37Bn | ▲30.83% | ▲71.43% | ▲79.38% |
| KCB Group | KSh 257.08Bn | ▲27.76% | ▲76.84% | ▲86.46% |
| Co-operative Bank | KSh 204.76Bn | ▲46.14% | ▲110.21% | ▲157.35% |
| Absa Kenya | KSh 181.41Bn | ▲32.20% | ▲70.36% | ▲224.02% |
| NCBA Group | KSh 144.98Bn | ▲7.69% | ▲36.84% | ▲237.04% |
| Standard Chartered | KSh 129.13Bn | ▲11.33% | ▲7.74% | ▲156.92% |
| I&M Group | KSh 120.94Bn | ▲60.59% | ▲86.73% | ▲196.74% |
| Stanbic Holdings | KSh 115.43Bn | ▲47.47% | ▲64.97% | ▲231.82% |
| BK Group | KSh 112.00Bn | ▲30.23% | ▲55.56% | ▲89.83% |
| Diamond Trust Bank | KSh 41.03Bn | ▲35.68% | ▲92.50% | ▲133.33% |
| HF Group | KSh 22.25Bn | ▲31.1% | ▲75.2% | ▲214.8% |
Market data as reported by Wall Street Africa.
I&M Group has posted the biggest gain among the larger banks this year at 60.6 percent, followed by Stanbic Holdings at 47.5 percent and Co-operative Bank at 46.1 percent, according to NSE data.
What This Means For Investors
Buying a single bank’s shares leaves an investor exposed to that company’s individual performance. The ETF spreads that exposure across all 11 listed lenders, so weak performance at one bank can be offset by gains at others — though investors also give up the chance to capture outsized gains from picking a single top-performing stock.
A final Information Memorandum, subscription timetable and full listing details will follow ahead of the launch. For now, the approval hands Kenyan investors something they have not had before: a single, cheaply traded way to buy into the exchange’s strongest sector without picking individual bank stocks or sending money abroad to do it.
