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 Erick 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.
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 KSh4 trillion for the first time, a jump from KSh3 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.
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.
