A burning desire to cut reliance on foreign investors within East Africa’s stock markets has compelled the exchanges to expand their retail investor base of late, but hard questions surrounding the procurement of new trading platforms, the passing on of costs to local users, and the tackling of rising cybercrime risks associated with financial services remain unresolved.
Foreign investors currently account for 40 percent of the investor pool available in East Africa’s stock markets — a factor that exposes regional bourses to sudden episodes of capital flight attributed to financial and economic shocks experienced in developed economies.
