Share trade between the Kenyan and Ugandan exchanges has become easier after both markets linked their electronic depository systems.

The East African Securities Exchange Association (EASEA), the umbrella body for regional capital market regulators, said the inter-depository transfer mechanism is now in place.

The East Africa inter-depository transfer mechanism makes it easier to trade across stock exchanges by allowing shares to be transferred from one depository account into another.

The EASEA said that investors trading across the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have started using the system.

“Investors in the Ugandan and the Kenyan market have started accessing securities through this arrangement,” said ESEA in a statement.

The USE said that the bourse has begun dematerialisation of shares to increase efficiency in trading.