Kenya: market rallies despite doubts
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The markets bet on a peaceful outcome, and so far, they’ve been proved right.
The Nairobi All-Share index jumped 3.2 per cent on Monday to a 5-year high of 115.37. But Kenya’s election is hardly done and dusted.
There has been no repeat of the violence that marred the elections before. Yet investors are voting despite other uncertainties. The victor, Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for their alleged role in organising 2008 election violence that claimed more than 1,100 lives. Raila Odinga, the outgoing prime minister and losing candidate, has taken a recount to the courts – Kenyatta’s winning margin was a slender 50.07 per cent.
Despite that, here’s the Nairobi All-Share Index – up at levels not seen since before the crisis.
And the shilling has also regained its recent appreciation, at around 85.3 to the dollar. Recounts, international courts – investors seem happy to give Kenya’s worries a pass for now.
Related reading:
Kenyan democracy in the dock, FT Editorial
Kenyatta victory could test diplomats’ skills, FT
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