NAIROBI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) said Tuesday it has made it easy for institutional investors to repatriate capital from the country.
The NSE said that it has cleared reported delays in its ability to facilitate the investors to repatriate capital from Kenya, enabling it to receive an upgrade on its classification from "restricted" to "pass" by the Financial Times and Stock Exchange (FTSE) Russell Index Governance Board.
"We are delighted by the reclassification, which is a testament to the continued improvement in Kenya's equity market and a demonstration of the confidence international institutional investors are placing in our market," David Wainaina, acting chief executive of the NSE, said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The FTSE Russell's equity indexes are used by investors around the world to inform asset allocation decisions, support portfolio construction, and conduct risk and performance analysis.
The NSE has been bearish for the last year, with foreign investors exiting the market, pushing market capitalization, which measures investors' wealth, to 13.6 billion U.S. dollars, down from a high of 15.1 billion dollars at the end of 2022.
Foreign investors normally account for over 60 percent of trading at the NSE. ■
