NSE Approves WSA Banking ETF as Banking Stocks Lead the Rally

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has granted conditional approval to the Wall Street Africa (WSA) Banking Index Exchange Traded Fund for listing and admission to trading. The approval, announced in Nairobi on September 9, clears another major regulatory milestone toward the launch of Kenya's first locally domiciled ETF.

Conditional approval means the NSE has signed off on the fund's structure and listing application, but trading does not begin automatically. Admission still depends on Wall Street Africa and Tradiam closing out the remaining listing and operational requirements.

The Exchange reached that decision after reviewing the listing application and supporting documents. This clearance follows an earlier approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), issued through a letter dated July 23, 2026.

The WSA Banking ETF is issued by Wall Street Africa in partnership with Tradiam Asset Managers Limited, which serves as fund manager. It is designed to track the NSE Banking Sector Index, giving investors diversified exposure to Kenya's listed banking sector through a single security.

The index currently comprises 12 banks, among them Equity Group, KCB Group, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Absa Bank Kenya, NCBA Group and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya. It also includes Stanbic Holdings, I&M Group, Diamond Trust Bank Kenya, HF Group, BK Group and Family Bank.

Banking leads the NSE rally

The ETF is advancing toward listing during a strong rally in Kenyan equities, led by banking stocks. As of the close on September 7, the NSE Banking Sector Index had gained 46.73 percent year to date, outpacing the NSE 10 at 42.97 percent, the NSE 20 at 41.79 percent, the NSE 25 at 40.78 percent, and the All Share Index at 35.99 percent.

That rally has lifted listed banks to a combined KSh 1.85 trillion in market capitalisation. To put this into perspective, the market capitalisation is about 43.5 percent of the NSE's total market value of KSh 4.26 trillion.

Among current index constituents, I&M Group has led the gains, up 93.17 percent year to date. Diamond Trust Bank has gained 67.69 percent, Co-operative Bank 59.29 percent, Equity Group 58.05 percent, BK Group 53.53 percent, and KCB Group 49.81 percent.

That market performance has been accompanied by strong interim earnings. The banks represented in the index generated a combined KSh 160 billion in profit after tax in the first half of 2026, with nine of them recording year-on-year earnings growth.

Equity Group led that earnings growth, posting KSh 45.5 billion in profit after tax. KCB Group followed at KSh 36.9 billion, and Co-operative Bank at KSh 18.0 billion.

• To see how the index constituents stack up against each other, open the peer views for Equity Group, KCB Group and Co-operative Bank.

Final preparations ahead of listing

Wall Street Africa and Tradiam Asset Managers will now complete the remaining requirements before admission to trading. The NSE says it will confirm the listing date once all applicable requirements and conditions have been satisfactorily fulfilled.

NSE Chief Executive Officer Frank Mwiti called the approval "a landmark moment for Kenya's capital markets," tying it to the exchange's 2025-2029 push to widen participation and deepen the market. "Once listed, as Kenya's first locally domiciled ETF, it will expand investor choice, strengthen the connection between capital and locally listed assets, and advance our 2025-2029 strategy," he said. For Mwiti, the fund is a step toward positioning Kenya as a capital-markets hub for the wider continent, not just a single product launch.

Wall Street Africa Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Erick Asuma pointed to what comes next. "The NSE approval represents another important step toward bringing Kenya's first locally domiciled ETF to market," he said. "Our focus now shifts to working with Tradiam, the Exchange, and other market participants to complete the remaining requirements." That leaves the launch timeline tied to how quickly those outstanding steps close.

For Kenya's capital markets, the significance extends beyond one fund. A locally domiciled ETF gives asset managers and retail investors a homegrown alternative for gaining diversified exposure to bank stocks in a single trade, instead of building that exposure name by name.

Bottom line for investors: this is a pipeline milestone, not a listing date. The WSA Banking ETF still needs to clear remaining listing and operational requirements before the NSE confirms when it starts trading. Once it does, it offers a single-security route into a banking sector that has outpaced every broad NSE index this year, up 46.73 percent, while carrying the concentration risk of a sector-specific fund.

Source: NSE, press release dated September 9, 2026.