Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) shed 25 per cent of its value in the six months to June 2022 as foreign investors sold their holdings of local companies.

Egypt, Uganda and Ghana were among the other biggest losers with Egypt’s EGX losing 22 per cent in the six months, according to Genghis Capital in it’s report on African stocks.

“There was a lot of selling due to rising interest rates in the United States and the upcoming general elections in Kenya,” said Wesley Manambo of Genghis Capital.

The analysts also expect the market conditions to improve in the third quarter of the year after the elections in August.

“Broadly, we expect cautiousness to persist in the market to the tail end of third quarter of 2022, on the back of the global macro environment, and investor apathy by foreign players with regards to the election cycle,” says the Genghis, adding that the market will however recover towards the close of the year.

The discounted entry levels across select stocks however offer investors a strategic vantage point to realise good returns when the market recovers, and trade at a premium. There is already an upward spike in the demand for counters such as EABL, KCB, Equity and Safaricom as local investors troop back into the market for bargain deals.

Share appreciation

Sameer Africa was the best performing stock on the NSE as measured by share appreciation in the last six months having appreciated by 45 per cent compared to rates in December 31, last year.

Shareholders of Sameer Africa have seen the stock rise from Sh2.70 a share to Sh4.00 by the end of June this year, data from Mwango Capital shows. At the same time East Africa Portland was the second best while Safaricom and Nairobi Business Ventures led from the bottom.

Nairobi Business Ventures was down 40 per cent from Sh5.70 a share to Sh3.40 a share in the period under review.

Safaricom lost 33 per cent of its value in the six months to close at Sh24.00 a share from Sh37.00.

Agriculture, automotive and construction were the best performing sectors with automotive up 39 per cent and construction up 8 per cent while agriculture gained 5 per cent in the period. Telecoms and insurance are the biggest losers among the sectors.