With the hype on forex trading in Kenya mainly among the young investors, Kenyans have been urged to use regulated brokers to avoid being scammed.
This is in the wake of a rise in forex trading scams globally, which has seen individuals and companies lose millions.
Forex trading has in recent years become popular in Kenya mainly on the US Dollar which remains strong against the Kenyan shilling.
“There are too many scams…. a lot of people have been scammed in Kenya. It is vital there is a regulatory framework that guides trading in the country mainly online,” FXPesa director and CEO Equiti Brokerage Brian Myers said.
He spoke in Nairobi on Saturday during a financial literacy programme (training) by the company, targeting potential investors in Kenya, mainly the youth.
The firm which launched in Kenya in 2008 has so far trained over 330,000 people across the country, with continued engagements including in partnership with universities targeted at increasing financial literacy in the country.
It has been running the financial literacy programme for the last three years.
It plans to roll out a mobile platform and expand its physical presence in the country from the current six locations.
According to Myers, there is a huge potential in the use of mobile apps to tap investment opportunities globally, among the stocks in the different markets, gold, and oil trading.
“We are keen to reach many Kenyans as possible to improve their financial knowledge and help in investment decisions,” Myers said.
He has termed Kenya’s regulatory environment as “strong”.
However, only about 30 per cent of the Kenyan population has good financial understanding.
“We want to ensure that we continue to improve the level of financial literacy in this country. We realised there is a lot of room for people to get to know about financial markets, both local and globally,” said Samuel Kiraka, CEO EGM Securities-FXPesa.
