The East Africa (EA15)

The East Africa 15 (EA15) highlights on 15 of the most traded and highly capitalized stocks in the region on a monthly basis. The primary purpose of the EA15 is to give investors a description and perspective of the regional stock markets’ performance. EAC countries’ economies had a turbulent time in 2019 characterized by rising public debt against missed revenue targets,slow private sector growth and under-par performance of traditional key sectors of the economy such as tourism, agriculture and manufacturing. Further, regional trade which was earmarked as crucial to economic development has been marred by trade spatssuch as protectionism resulting in a decline involume and value of intra-regional trade. The region is looking to maintain a loose monetary stance to boost private sector growth and more importantly,resolve disputes in order to intensify regional trade. Despite the tough economic environment, the region’s GDP is projected to grow the fastest in sub-Saharan Africa by about 6% compared to an average of 3.6% for the continent. Kenya: Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) In a move to draw the informal sector into the tax bracket and increase domestic revenue collection, the Kenyan taxman re-introduced the3%Turnover Tax (ToT) for businesses whose annual turnover does not exceed