Kenyatta Family: In the 30 days to mid March 2020, stocks listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange were pn a free fall. Consequently, prominent local investors emerged as the biggest losers, with their paper losses plunging from a few thousand shillings to billions of shillings. The first family was among the most notable loss makers at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
The Kenyatta family lost Sh. 1.5 billion over the one month period. The Kenyatta family holds a 13.2 percent stake in NCBA Group. This means that their holding in the group was reduced to Sh. 5.5 billion.
KCB opens door to CRB-listed Kenyans, offers Sh. 30 billion mobile loans
The Ndegwa family, which is a co-partner in the NCBA Bank with the Kenyattas lost Sh. 1.3 billion. The family holds a 12 per cent stake. Their holding was cut to Sh. 5 billion.
According to a report that appeared in a local daily, Co-op Bank CEO Gideon Muriuki, investment banker Jimnah Mbaru, Britam chief executive Benson Wairegi and WPP Scangroup boss Bharat Thakrar were the other billionaire investors who lost billions in the market downfall.
“The billionaire investors had stock holdings valued at a total of Sh. 27.5 billion on February 18 2020, with the market sell-off cutting their wealth to Sh. 21.6 billion as of Wednesday. The companies they have invested in were, however, set to pay them dividends of at least Sh. 1 billion combined in the next few months, offsetting some of the wealth erosion,” the report said.
Equity Bank chief executive officer was another Kenyan billionaire who lost significant amount from the stock erosion at the NSE. “His holdings over the one-month period in Equity dropped to Sh. 7.3 billion from Sh. 9.4 billion, a decline of 22 percent,” said the report.
However, the first family and its billionaire colleagues may take longer to get a soft landing on NSE after the businesses they have invested in decided to recall their dividend payout in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economy.
