For decades, East Africa’s stock exchanges have battled fragmentation. Each bourse, Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, and Kigali, largely operated within its own borders, fenced off by different rules, brokers, and clearing systems that rarely connected.
The result was shallow liquidity, a narrow range of products, and investors forced to open multiple accounts, repeat Know-Your-Customer checks, and endure settlement delays just to buy shares across a border.
Daily trading volumes stagnated. Market capitalisation, though rising, remained modest relative to the size of the economy, around 20 percent of GDP in Kenya, 10 percent in Uganda, and under 5 percent in Rwanda, according to the East African Securities Exchanges Association (EASEA) data.
By comparison, South Africa’s exchange is valued at over 250 percent of GDP.
One investable market
Fragmentation also stifled innovation. Derivatives, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and green bonds, common in mature markets, are still rare across East Africa.
Most investors are confined to equities and government securities, while issuers rely heavily on banks for financing.
The 2016 Common Market Protocol promised free movement of securities, but companies still have to cross-list before their shares can trade regionally.
‘We want to solve this from a product perspective. That is why we have developed a regional index that will evolve into a cross-listed regional ETF,’ says David Wainaina, the Nairobi Securities Exchange chief operations officer.
The $16.98b benchmark
Founded in 2009, EASEA has been working to create a single investable East African market through harmonised regulations and shared technology. In April 2025, it launched the East Africa Exchanges (EAE) 20-Share Index, a market-capitalization-weighted benchmark of 20 of the region’s largest listed firms.
Together, they account for 85 percent of East Africa’s equity market universe, with a combined market value of $16.98b across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. ‘The index matters because it reflects and accelerates integration,’ says Paul Bwiso, the EASEA chief executive.
EASEA’s membership has since expanded to include the Somali Stock Exchange, Ethiopia Securities Exchange, the Burundi Securities Exchange, and the CSD of Rwanda. Ethiopia’s bourse reopened in 2025 after decades without a stock market, while Somalia formalised its two exchanges.
The integration, Wainaina says, will largely benefit from technological trends that will help investors to ‘monitor any East African exchange in real-time data’. However, he cautions that technology alone won’t fix policy.
Cross-listing remains cumbersome, with differing disclosure standards, timelines, and approvals across borders. Legal interpretations also vary, complicating regional listings.
The cross-listing gap
Examples such as Bank of Kigali and Umeme show cross-listing’s potential, but most companies still operate within single markets.
When Ugandans bought into Safaricom’s IPO, they had to trade through Nairobi, incurring currency and brokerage costs.
Similarly, Stanbic Uganda’s IPO attracted Kenyan interest, but the lack of cross-listing limited access and liquidity. ‘We are trying to bring that efficiency to every investor. The technology exists, we have tested dashboards where a Ugandan can view Dar es Salaam’s market, and vice versa,’ says Bwiso.
These efforts link closely with the African Exchanges Linkage Project, a continental initiative under the African Securities Exchanges Association that aims to connect Africa’s markets and allow investors to trade regionally, settle in local currency, and have securities recorded within local depositories.
‘It’s already happening. We have seen trades between Egypt and Nairobi. The next step is scaling it,’ says Wainaina.
But the final hurdle is fixing the settlement stage, where money and shares actually change hands. Currently, systems between East African exchanges do not fully communicate.
‘We need more cross-listings and integrated settlement so trades clear within the same system. That is the missing piece,’ Wainaina says.
If resolved, it could unlock a wave of regional innovation, with products built on the new index attracting global investors. ‘Instead of fragmented markets worth $8 or $9b each, investors will see a regional story exceeding $100b in market capitalization, and growing,’ says Bwiso.
The integration drive also positions East Africa to attract sustainable and impact-driven capital. Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and soon Uganda are developing sukuk (Islamic bonds) and green bonds to finance climate and infrastructure projects.
With ESG frameworks being embedded in regulations and listing practices, East Africa is closer than ever to becoming one unified, investable financial market.