- Online forex brokers in Kenya are categorised as no-dealing or dealing brokers, with no-dealing brokers providing direct access to the interbank market
- Dealing brokers, also known as market makers, create their own markets, act as counter-parties to clients’ trades, and profit from spreads and losses incurred by traders
- Empire FX Trade Limited is the only licensed online dealing forex broker in Kenya
Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than four years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting expertise, providing insights into Kenyan and global trends.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA), tasked with overseeing Kenya’s capital markets, has published details of online forex bureaus licensed to operate in Kenya.
Source: Getty Images
CMA categorises forex bureaus into various categories depending on their activities: non-dealing and dealing brokers.
No-dealing forex brokers in Kenya
A No Dealing Desk (NDD) is a trading model used by forex brokers to provide clients with direct access to the interbank market, where major financial institutions and liquidity providers like banks and hedge funds participate in the currency exchange.
This means that no-dealing brokers do not participate in the market and do not take the opposite side of the customers’ trades.
This system ensures that investors receive the most competitive rates from the country’s liquidity providers, such as banks.
Since the trades are routed directly to the interbank market, they are executed almost instantly, reducing the possibility of re-quotes or price manipulation.
Below is a list of no-dealing online brokers licensed to operate in Kenya:
- EGM Securities Limited (Trading as “FX Pesa”)
- SCFM Limited (Trading as “Scope Markets”)
- Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited
- Exinity Capital East Africa Limited
- HFM Investments Limited (Trading as “HF Markets”)
- Windsor Markets Kenya Limited
- Exness KE Limited
- Ingot KE Limited
- Admirals KE Limited
- FP Markets Limited
- IC Markets (KE) Limited
- Trademax Global Markets (KE) Pty Limited
Online dealing forex brokers in Kenya
Dealing online forex brokers, also known as market makers, are brokers that create their own market and act as the counterparty to their clients’ trades. Instead of directly connecting traders to the interbank market, dealing brokers quote their own buy and sell prices.
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For example, traders go to brokers who have predetermined buying and selling prices for various currencies and exchange for their preferred currency. These brokers make a profit from the spread, which is the difference between the bid and ask prices, and sometimes from losses incurred by traders when they take the opposite side of the client’s trade.
Unlike NDD brokers, dealing brokers do not rely on external liquidity providers. Instead, they maintain their own liquidity pools and fulfil orders internally.
Notably, only Empire FX Trade Limited is licensed to operate as an online dealing forex broker in Kenya.
Online foreign exchange money managers
Online foreign exchange money managers in Kenya are professional entities or individuals licensed by the CMA to manage the forex trading portfolios of individual or institutional investors.
These managers commonly, known as ‘forex traders’, operate within the framework of the Capital Markets (Online Foreign Exchange Trading) Regulations, 2017, and are distinct from dealing and non-dealing forex brokers.
Their primary role is to make investment decisions on behalf of their clients in the online foreign exchange market, aiming to maximise returns while managing risks, in exchange for a fee, typically based on a percentage of the assets under management.
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Unlike brokers who facilitate trades, money managers take a more active role by developing tailored trading strategies based on a client’s financial goals, risk tolerance, and invested capital.
They conduct market analysis, execute trades, and monitor positions to optimise the client’s forex portfolio.
Licensed online forex money managers in Kenya include,
- Standard Investment Bank (Trading as “MANSA X”)
- Trade Sense Limited (Suspended for three months with effect from 28th February 2025)
- Store Poa Enterprise Limited
Investment advise for Kenyans
In other news Benjamin Cheruiyot, a financial advisor at Abojani Investments, advised Kenyans to adopt a structured savings plan by allocating 20% of their monthly income towards savings and investments, using the 50:30:20 budgeting rule.
For someone earning a net salary of KSh 70,000, this translates to KSh 14,000 per month, with KSh 9,000 directed to a SACCO BOSA account for long-term savings and KSh 5,000 to a money market fund (MMF) for stable returns.
According to Cheruiyot, by the end of the first year, the projected savings would be KSh 188,160. He recommended reinvesting KSh 100,000 from the MMF savings into treasury bonds.
By the end of the second year, the total investment portfolio, including SACCO BOSA, MMF, and treasury bond earnings, would amount to KSh 402,899.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
