From KES 100,000 to Strategic Wealth: Why Equity on the NSE Is Quietly Outperforming Everything Else

In early January 2026, an investor with KES 100,000 faced the same question many Kenyans ask themselves every year: where should this money go?

The options were familiar — money market funds offering stability, fixed deposits promising predictable income, or equities on the Nairobi Securities Exchange carrying the allure of growth and the risk of fluctuation.

What has happened since January provides a revealing case study in how wealth is truly built.

Imagine that the KES 100,000 was divided equally across four listed counters: Safaricom PLC, KCB Group PLC, NCBA Group PLC, and Eveready East Africa PLC. That means KES 25,000 in each name at the prevailing early-January prices.

Over the subsequent weeks, Safaricom advanced roughly 16 percent, buoyed by renewed investor confidence and structural developments around its Ethiopian expansion and the proposed Vodacom transaction.

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A KES 25,000 allocation would now be worth approximately KES 29,000. KCB, steadily regaining momentum as banking stocks re-rated, climbed close to 15 percent over the same period, pushing that KES 25,000 to about KES 28,700.

NCBA delivered a more measured but still respectable gain of roughly 6 percent, lifting its portion to around KES 26,500. Eveready, a smaller-cap turnaround story attracting speculative but increasingly structured interest, appreciated about 23 percent, converting KES 25,000 into roughly KES 30,750.

Collectively, the portfolio that began at KES 100,000 would now stand at approximately KES 114,975 purely from capital appreciation. That is nearly 15 percent growth in under two months.

When dividends are factored in — particularly from Safaricom, KCB, and NCBA, which historically provide attractive yields relative to the broader market — the figure edges higher still.

Even conservatively prorating annual dividend yields over a short holding period adds incremental value, reinforcing the dual engine of equity returns: growth and income.

Now consider the alternatives.

A money market fund yielding around 11 to 13 percent annually would generate approximately 2 percent over two months. The KES 100,000 would likely sit near KES 102,000.

A fixed deposit at comparable rates, after withholding tax, would produce similar results — safe, predictable, but modest. Balanced or special funds with partial equity exposure might reach 2 to 3 percent over the same period, still well below the equity portfolio’s performance.

The contrast is stark. One strategy produces roughly KES 2,000 in gains. The other approaches KES 15,000.

This difference is not merely numerical. It reflects the nature of ownership.

When an investor purchases shares in Safaricom, they are not buying a ticker symbol; they are acquiring exposure to East Africa’s digital backbone, to mobile money dominance, to data monetisation, and to the long-term scaling potential of Ethiopia’s vast population.

When one invests in KCB or NCBA, they are participating in the cash-generating infrastructure of regional finance — institutions that expand credit, compound retained earnings, and distribute dividends while positioning for cross-border growth.

Even Eveready, as a turnaround story, represents optionality — the potential for asymmetrical upside when operational execution aligns with market recognition.

Money market funds and fixed deposits serve a vital purpose. They protect capital and provide liquidity.

They are defensive tools in a portfolio. But they do not build wealth at speed. They accrue; equities compound.

Sophisticated investors understand that volatility is not the enemy — misallocation is. Equity markets fluctuate, and short-term corrections are inevitable.

Yet over time, ownership in productive enterprises captures inflation protection, earnings growth, strategic re-rating, and dividend reinvestment. The combination of these forces creates exponential potential.

In the present Kenyan context, equities offer particularly compelling characteristics. Banking stocks continue to trade at valuations that remain reasonable relative to earnings strength.

Dividend yields rival, and in some cases exceed, fixed deposit rates. Corporate governance visibility is improving. Strategic transactions — such as the potential Vodacom control increase in Safaricom — signal deeper institutional confidence.

Meanwhile, structural expansion into markets like Ethiopia introduces a new growth vector that is still early in its maturity curve.

The lesson is not that money market funds are inferior. It is that they are incomplete for anyone seeking capital growth. A prudent investor may hold liquidity instruments for stability, but it is equity that transforms savings into wealth.

If KES 100,000 can become approximately KES 115,000 in a matter of weeks under disciplined allocation, the implications over years become profound. Repeat the process, reinvest dividends, and allow compounding to operate uninterrupted.

The divergence between accrual and growth widens dramatically.

Wealth creation is not about chasing noise or speculating recklessly. It is about understanding that ownership of strong economic engines, purchased at rational valuations and held with discipline, provides an unmatched mechanism for financial expansion.

The allure of sophistication is not complexity. It is clarity of asset selection and conviction in long-term compounding. In the current environment, equities on the Nairobi

Securities Exchange are not merely an option. For investors with patience and discipline, they are the most compelling opportunity available.

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