Listed companies are more attentive to the rights of shareholders, stakeholder relations, ethics and social responsibility, a new governance report by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) shows.

The State of Corporate Governance for Issuers of Securities to the Public in Kenya outlines the regulator’s independent assessment of companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and issuers of corporate bonds in applying the principles and recommendations contained in the Code of Corporate Governance Practices for Issuers of Securities to the Public, 2015 (CG Code). 

It is the fourth edition, and covers the financial year July 1 2020 to June 30, 2021.

“Out of the seven governance principles assessed, there was improved performance on rights of shareholders, shareholder relations and ethics and social responsibility,” said the CMA chief executive Wyckliffe Shamiah. 

He said the overall weighted average score for 2020/2021 assessment was 70.2 per cent (good rating) compared to 72 per cent for the previous assessment. 

Shamiah noted that the number of issuers in the leadership category remained 25, those in the good rating category decreased from 11 to 8, while those in fair rating increased from eight to 10. A total of 49 issuers were assessed during this period.