After three years of searching for a buyer, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is considering relocating from its HQ, the EXchange, to nearby Nairobi GTC Tower, a prime location for business meetings and conferences. The plan comes 12 years after the bourse moved from a rented space in Nairobi city centre.
For an institution planning to make some operations digital, the move to a bigger office raises questions about the need for more space. The NSE has moved multiple times since 1960, setting up at the IPS Building, then the Nation Centre (which hosts the Nation Media Group) in 1994, before acquiring the EXchange in 2013.
The five-storey EXchange also houses the Kenya Association of Stockbrokers (KASIB) and Kenyan Wall Street, a digital publication. First valued at KES 140.5 million ($1,081,101) in 2013, the building’s fair value dropped to KES 101.5 million ($781,009) by December 2023.
A source familiar with the matter said the NSE also considered moving to Sanlam Tower in Nairobi but may settle on GTC towers because of a bigger trading floor. The same source added that it is yet to find a buyer for its current building.
According to Knight Frank, Kenya’s prime office uptake has dropped by 73% due to the increased supply of new office units. This has led to a decline in rental income for companies with real estate in their portfolio.
The NSE earned KES 6.5 million ($50,015) in lease rental income last year and expects KES 27.4 million ($210,834) over five years.
In 2014, the NSE became the second African bourse after Johannesburg to list publicly, offering 194.6 million shares at KES 9.5 each ($0.073). The NSE earns revenue through transaction levies, data sales, listing fees, member fees, training services, and rental income.
The bourse reported a net profit of KES 18.4 million ($141,582) for the year ending December 2023, an increase from KES 13.7 million ($105,417) in the previous period.
