With such a large sized liquid market up for grabs, it's no wonder investors with deep pockets are lining up each day to exploit it to no end.
Kenyans haven’t been left behind either and in the last decade the online forex trading scene in the country has been steadily growing, characterised by increased curiosity from the public looking for ways to make money online.
According to a 2016 Capital Markets Authority (CMA) report, more than 50,000 traders were trading with offshore regulated and unregulated brokers.
The reason for this is simple, until recently there were no reliable forex brokers in Kenya, so the only option Kenyan traders had in order to profit from the forex market was to use an offshore broker (a broker from a foreign country).
To ensure all transactions were above board and innocent Kenyans didn’t lose their funds to unregulated/unscrupulous dealers, in 2016 the Capital Markets Authority developed a framework to regulate online forex trading.
The Online Foreign Exchange Trading regulations became effective in 2017 and this paved the way for players such as EGM Securities to begin offering their services in the Kenyan market.
Since then EGM Securities has been burning the midnight oil to debunk and bring online forex trading closer to Kenyans.
According to EGM Securities CEO Samuel Kiraka, working closely with the regulator ensures credibility, trust, and transparency.
Having CMA onboard also promotes investor protection through the separation of client funds with those of the non-dealing forex operator. Therefore, the traders can access their funds in case a broker shuts down, Kiraka explains.
So what’s in store for Kenyans in online Forex trading in 2020
Mr Kiraka reckons 2020 will be a good year for local online forex traders as the EGM intends to roll out forex trading across other counties outside Nairobi.
The company has already received interests from people in major towns such as Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kisumu and plans are underway to establish offices in the regions to facilitate free seminars and training to build a community of well-informed traders.
By the looks of it, 2020 looks like a profitable year for Kenyans in online Forex trading.
