Nairobi’s international finance centre ambition gains traction with CFA head’s first visit

Nairobi’s ambition to become an International Finance Centre is gaining traction with the planned visit of Mr. Paul Smith, the Global President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Institute on July 3, 2017.

This will be the first visit to Nairobi by the CFA Institute’s head.

Mr. Smith is scheduled to hold consultative forums with executives of market regulatory bodies and top financial institutions in Kenya, in a bid to explore ways of improving the performance of the financial markets.

Among the institutions included in his target meetings are insurance companies, asset managers, Kenyan stockbrokers and private equity firms.

Additionally, his visit comes at a time when Kenyan financial analysts have been directed to urgently comply with a registration requirement aimed at eliminating rogue financial analysts, quacks and protecting investor wealth.

The Institute of Chartered Investment and Financial Analysts (ICIFA) was in a campaign to enforce acquisition of practicing certificates by the estimated 1,000 local professionals in the industry before the expiry of the transition period on June 7, 2017.

Finally, his visit will also afford an opportunity for 13 universities to participate in sessions geared towards laying the ground for an ambitious future in financial sector professionals.

Here the CEO will discuss the emerging trends in global markets, capital flows into the local markets and international perspective in frontier markets.