By Onjili David
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has launched its second World Investor Week (WIW), a move that’s expected to attract more than a thousand financial organizations to showcase their initiatives for promoting investor education and protection globally.
From the first week of this month (October), securities regulators, stock exchanges, investor associations and other stakeholders will offer an array of activities including workshops, conferences, games and contests in a bid to increase awareness of investor education and protection in their fields.
According to Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman James Ndegwa, while appreciating how Kenya’s population statistics showed the youth were numerous, Fintech will be one of the key hallmarks of competition between Kenya and other jurisdictions globally in terms of new listings. Ages 15-24 years forms a third of Kenya’s approximately 45 million citizens with close to 78% of the total population being under 35 years.
In addition, chief executive of CMA Paul Muthaura noted that the move will not only enable the authority to build strategic alliances with government ministries, county governments, financial sector regulators, and academia but also market intermediaries to enrich its investor education programs. Coming at a time when rapid technological innovation and interconnection in financial markets cannot be ignored, experts say that the efforts to create awareness were bearing fruit amongst citizens.
“On the capital markets front, we recently concluded a Capital Markets Investor Behavioral and Situational Analysis Study which indicated that overall, Kenyans have a 58% level of awareness,” Mr Muthaura said.
