NSE Posts Best Quarter in Over a Year as Safaricom Deal Reshapes the Market

Kenya’s stock market closed the second quarter of 2026 on a high note, with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) shrugging off a mid-year fuel price shock to deliver its strongest quarterly performance in more than a year, and the headline act was a single, market-moving transaction that quietly rewired the ownership of the country’s most valuable company.

The Blockbuster

The broad NASI index climbed 9.0% in June alone, closing out a quarter that saw it advance 15.1%. The blue-chip NSE 20 and NSE 25 indices rose 6.9% and 9.7% respectively for the month, while the N10 index, a gauge of the market’s most liquid counters, surged 11.8%. Across the full quarter, those same indices posted gains of 9.4% and 14.6%, with the N10 up an impressive 18.7%.

Behind the rally sat one extraordinary trading event. On 30 June, a single block trade saw Vodacom Group complete the acquisition of a 15% stake in Safaricom from the Government of Kenya, executed directly on the exchange. The transaction was so large it single-handedly inflated market turnover to over USD 1.8 billion for June, compared with roughly USD 115–118 million in each of the two preceding months. Safaricom alone accounted for 82.3% of all quarterly trading activity as a result.

Strip out that one deal, however, and a more conventional picture emerges: Equity Group was actually the most actively traded counter for the quarter, with a 29.8% share of “normal” turnover, ahead of Safaricom’s 21.2%.

Read Also: NCBA Investment Bank Partners with NSE to Empower the Next Generation of Retail Investors

Vodafone’s exit, Vodacom’s consolidation

The Safaricom transaction was the culmination of a restructuring at the top of Kenya’s telecom giant. With regulatory exemptions granted by the Capital Markets Authority, sparing Vodacom from a mandatory takeover offer to minority shareholders, the deal saw Vodafone Kenya’s internal reorganisation finalised, leaving Vodacom Group as its sole owner. Post-transaction, Safaricom’s shareholding now stands at 55% Vodafone Kenya, 20% Government of Kenya, and 25% general public investors.

Foreign investors return, tentatively

Perhaps the quieter but more telling story is what foreign investors did. After a punishing ten-month streak of net selling, overseas investors turned net buyers of Kenyan equities for a second straight month, injecting a net USD 4.0 million into the market in the quarter (excluding the Safaricom block trade, which itself involved substantial foreign outflow accounting). Equity Group was the biggest magnet for foreign money, pulling in USD 3.7 million in net inflows for the quarter, while Safaricom, KCB Group, ABSA Bank Kenya and BAT Kenya all saw the largest net foreign selling.

Winners, losers, and new arrivals

Retail and industrial names dominated the gainers’ board. Car & General (K) was the quarter’s standout performer, up a staggering 82.9%, followed by Kapchorua Tea (+44.7%) and I&M Holdings (+43.0%). On the losing side, Flame Tree Group tumbled 26.4%, with Sanlam Kenya and Uchumi Supermarket also posting double-digit declines.

The quarter also welcomed new entrants: Family Bank listed by introduction on 23 June at KES 18.00 per share, while the TRIFIC Green USD I-REIT achieved a 103.3% subscription rate, raising USD 30.8 million.

Clouds on the horizon

Not everything was celebratory. Kenya Pipeline Company disclosed a major lawsuit from Zakhem International Construction seeking over USD 84 million in unpaid claims and interest, while Absa Group launched a tender offer to lift its stake in Absa Kenya from 68.5% to as much as 85%.

Against a backdrop of elevated headline inflation (6.4% in June) and a fuel-price shock that rippled through the economy, the NSE’s resilience, capped by one of the most consequential ownership shifts in Safaricom’s history, sets an intriguing tone for the second half of 2026.

Read Also: Safaricom Block Trade Ignites the NSE as Banks Extend the Market’s Green Run

Source: Standard Investment Bank (SIB) Equities, “NSE Summary Performance – June 2026 & 2Q26.