“Savings must become a priority not just a thought. Pay yourself first.”
These are the words of Dave Ramsey, words that resonate well with Kate Wambui, a young waitress and customer service staff for a catering company in Nairobi.
Wambui takes us through her journey of financial empowerment through NSEasy.
NSEasy enables Kenyans to buy shares of companies that are on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Wambui’s journey began when she came across an advertisement about a platform that allowed people to invest in stocks with as little as Sh200.
Intrigued, she decided to give it a try, registering via the USSD code provided.
Despite initial challenges in setting up her account, Wambui persevered and eventually embarked on her trading journey.
“The USSD code took time before I was able to register but finally I got registered at NSEasy and that’s how I started my journey of trading stocks,” she says.
For Wambui, NSEasy is an investment platform that allows individuals to become shareholders in established companies, benefiting from profits as their shares grow in value.
While she initially planned to use her tips for investment, her workplace’s no-tip policy prompted her to allocate part of her salary instead.
“I set aside about Sh3,000 monthly for stock purchases throughout the month. I stopped using the tips because of the company policy. I normally go as low as Sh100 when buying and sometimes I will check the performance and keep increasing,” she says.
GREAT EXPERIENCE
Her experience with NSEazy has been overwhelmingly positive.
The platform's user-friendly interface allows her to log in easily, check her portfolio, buy stocks, and even sell them when necessary.
“It is straightforward and effective. It gives me access to timely updates about stock performance and market opportunities. However, I believe more financial education is needed to dispel myths about investing, particularly among young people,” she says.
Growing up, Wambui associated shareholding with older family members—an uncle, aunt, or grandmother.
The lack of education and exposure for the younger generation left her with the perception that investing was not for people like her.
This changed when she took the initiative to seek information herself.
Now, she actively encourages her peers and family members to embrace the opportunities offered by platforms like NSEasy.
As the firstborn in a family of four, she has guided her siblings, helping them overcome fears of scams and navigate the world of investing.
Wambui is particularly passionate about debunking the myth that investing is only for the wealthy.
“There’s nothing like too little money,” she emphasises.
“To make a million, you have to start with a shilling,” she says.
According to Wambui, platforms like NSEasy are revolutionary for young people, offering them an accessible way to grow their financial independence and diversify their investments.
Instead of spending money without a plan, she urges others to put even small amounts to productive use.
Her advocacy has inspired at least five colleagues and family members to start trading, with many seeing value in the platform.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Despite her enthusiasm, Wambui acknowledges the need for NSEasy to enhance public education, particularly for young Kenyans, to build trust and understanding of how investments work.
Looking ahead, Wambui plans to grow her investments and move from the low-income investor bracket to a larger portfolio. The profits, she hopes, will fuel other areas of her life.
She credits NSEazy for making this possible and is grateful for the financial literacy and opportunities it provides.
“To young people, start small, stay consistent, and watch your financial journey grow,” she says.
Rubin Mukkam-Owuor, NSEasy Chief Operations Officer (COO) says Kenyans should think of stocks as a title deed.
“There are companies like Equity Bank, Safaricom, and Kenya Commercial Bank, among others that are partly owned by the public. A share or stock is a title deed to a small part of that company,” she says.
“Prices of stocks or shares could for example be affected by many things including public perception, and industry factors among others but it is essentially a demand and supply thing. The more the demand for a particular stock, the higher the price.”
According to Owuor, a lot has changed.
“What you would have to do previously is go to the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation and apply for an account with your passport photos, copies of your ID documents and other official documents and then wait for a couple of weeks for your account to be opened and then start trading stocks,” she says.
“Even when you did start trading stocks, you would have to do it through a broker, you couldn’t do it directly. Now with the introduction of technology, all of these things have changed.”
OPENING ACCOUNT AND INVESTING
Owuor says with NSEasy, all you have to do is dial the USSD Code *665*44# and open a CDS account with only your ID number and email address.
They will then run their background government checks and it goes through a process which takes less than 24 hours.
“You will have your CDS account and then you can trade stocks or shares. You don’t have to know any broker. You do it all on your phone and you have complete control over the process,” she says.
A CDS account is an account that you require to trade stocks and shares, without it you can’t buy anything on the stock market.
Owuor says their first customer invested Sh100 in KCB shares.
She says it is as low as that and one of our most active customers is a waitress who uses her tips to invest in stocks.
“It all comes down to your confidence in the companies you buy stocks in and at the end of the day you have to believe that they have inherent value, industries they are in will continue to add value in coming years,” she says.
“You don’t need a lot of money to stocks at the NSE.”
STOCKS TRADING, MONEY LOSS
According to the NSEasy, for one to get into stock trading, they need to confirm if they are a consumer of the listed companies in the Nairobi Securities Exchange, what they know about them and whether they’d like to be a stakeholder.
NSEasy says if the answer is yes, all they would need is the ID number and email address, and they will then submit their information on the USSD code and be able to open a CDS account within hours and start trading.
“What I would advise you is to trade small, start with a very small amount of Sh100, Sh200 or Sh500 and try to learn how it performs over the coming weeks or months,” NSEasy COO says.
“All these different news we read or hear about companies affects their stock price and once you understand this relationship you can start to invest more and realise it is an alternative way of investing.”
On whether there are cases of people losing money on NSE, the COO advises customers to keep abreast of all news and all official reports that are released by companies and information that helps them make an informed decision.
According to her, if one can buy and hold a stock, it is the best approach because there will be short-term dips in price. Stock prices fluctuate.
POTENTIAL INVESTORS
NSEasy advises investors to start today.
According to them, the long-term potential of stocks in the Nairobi securities exchange will only improve over the years.
NSEasy says these household brands are well established and have good reputations in this market, companies that serve Kenyans every day.
“Why not put some of that money that you put into those companies back into your pocket? Why not become a voice that could influence how these companies continue working over the coming years? NSEasy COO asks.
“Start today, start small, learn how the stock market works, and then continue to increase your investment in the stock market so that all of us Kenyans can be true stakeholders in Kenyan companies.”
