Edward H. Ntalami - Accolades

Accolades

• Kenya's secondary bond market voted among the best in Africa: A report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in April 2007, ranked Kenya's secondary bond market as among the most vibrant in Africa, coming only third to South Africa and Mauritius. The World Regional Economic Survey for April 2007 reports that, "Kenya's lengthening maturities which has allowed better pricing of debt instruments, puts it among the few countries in Africa with a vibrant debt market."

• The overwhelming success of the KenGen IPO was widely commended for generating a lot of awareness in investments among ordinary Kenyans of all ages, professions and income levels. The landmark IPO led to a massive interest in opening stock brokerage accounts and investing in Kenya. According to the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), the number of people with CDS accounts increased significantly and as at the end of June 2007 stood at over 750,000 accounts up from 78,300 in December 2005; a noteworthy tenfold increase in only one-and-a-half years.

• Many have also commended Ntalami for his resolve in rejecting plans to use a bookbuilding approach to allocate the KenGen shares. The initial plan is said to have been abandoned after it appeared to be biased against the small investor.

• Under Ntalami's watch at the healm, the NSE 20 Share Index posted a historic mark, surpassing its previous all-time high of 5,030 points, hit on February 18, 1994. As at close of trading on November 10, 2006 it stood at 5654.46 points. The NSE index has delivered an unprecedented growth in excess of over 300% over the last two and a half years.

• For over a decade since March 1996, the NSE had only listed three new companies, namely Kenya Airways, Mumias and ICID-I. In under four years of the former Chief Executive's tenure, the bourse witnessed the successful launch of six IPOs, namely KenGen, Scangroup, Eveready East Africa (listed with an oversubscription of over 800%), Mumias Sugar and AccessKenya Group (listed with an oversubscription of 363%) and recently Kenya Re (see photo (right)); including the oversubscription of five Rights Issues, namely KCB Bank, CFCStanbic Bank, Uchumi Supermarkets, Diamond Trust and Olympia Capital. Ntalami left office just prior to the landmark listing of Safaricom, the leading mobile telecommunications service provider in the country.

• The Year of the IPO: 2006 was hailed as "The Year of the IPO" by Madabhushi Soundarajan, former Managing Director, CFCStanbic Bank and CFC Financial Services. "You can call 2006 the Year of the Initial Public Offer where many Kenyans saw the benefit of the stock market to make wealth" he said, through a supplement/advertising feature released in the country's leading newspaper, Daily Nation on December 13, 2006. CFCStanbic Bank is part of the CFCStanbic Group whose Total Assets then stood at over KShs 16 billion. In line with this, James Murigu, the former Managing Director of Suntra Investment Bank, has commended the CMA's pace in processing of new applications for bourse listings.

• The CMA has been lauded by the private sector and newly listed companies for reviving confidence in Kenya's capital markets which has in turn translated into active participation from both manufacturing and service sectors. In August 2007, Renaissance Capital - a major multinational investment bank, was granted license to operate in Kenya. RenCap commended the regulator for the speedy processing of its application which showed its commitment to deepening the capital markets in Kenya.

• Investor Education and Awareness Programmes: On January 30, 2006 the CMA hosted a major Workshop at the Grand Regency Hotel, Nairobi, inviting leading media houses, journalists and industry players, both local and international, to train them on the tenets of good capital markets reporting. The CMA also participated in the Mombasa and Nairobi Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) shows in August and October 2006 respectively, where the Authority won an award for the Best Financial Institutions stand at the Mombasa ASK. CMA has in the past hosted a number of seminars including one for State Corporations. Also, in May 2007, the market regulator begun supplement releases to educate the public on the capital markets.