The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has revived its plan to upgrade its automated trading system (ATS) after a bumper year in which its total revenues crossed the Sh1 billion mark for the first time.
The bourse had shelved a planned upgrade of the ATS due to runaway costs, which saw its net earnings drop 21.1 percent to Sh54.7 million in the half-year to June 2024.
The NSE said the revived Sh234 million upgrade will involve phasing out the Broker Back Office (BBO) system and replacing the current ATS software, derivatives software and other related systems with new market infrastructure.
“The capital commitment (Sh234 million) relates to the expected implementation and project management costs on a new comprehensive market infrastructure solution which includes automated trading, surveillance, depository and clearing systems,” the bourse said.
The bourse recorded a 134 percent growth in net profit to Sh272.2 million in 2025 from Sh116.3 million in 2024, while total revenues grew to Sh1.08 billion from Sh828 million in the same period.
NSE chief executive Frank Mwiti said the process of procuring the software is ongoing, with the new system expected to go live in the first quarter (January–March) of 2027.
System overhaul
“We are upgrading our trading systems for equities, fixed income, derivatives, as well as our unquoted securities platform.
“We are upgrading the surveillance system. We are also working with the Central Depository & Settlement Corporation using one common process to upgrade the depository system,” he told Business Daily in an interview.
The upgrade is expected to strengthen trading efficiency, transparency and support a diversified portfolio of investment products, alongside a target of nine million new active retail investors by 2029 under its five-year growth plan.
“The plan is to run between now and the end of Q1 next year, but we haven’t finished the planning process, so the correct position will be provided when we finish the planning process and have the kick-off session.”
NSE is also phasing out the BBO, which was officially launched in 2012 to link stockbrokers and investment banks directly to the trading platform.
“That was a system that we were supporting, but brokers now have more capability, so it is not even required. We also need to modernise it anyway. It was a system that we had procured for the market to enable brokers to access our trading systems.”
NSE discontinued the BBO in 2025, with the remaining net book value written off.
“The company will be replacing the current automated trading system software, derivatives software and other related software with new market infrastructure in 2026. These systems have no resale value and will have no further economic use. An impairment provision on the remaining net book value has therefore been booked in these 2025 financial statements. The related computer equipment has also been impaired,” NSE said in its annual report (2025).
