NSE stockbrokers: list and fees

Who can trade for you

The Capital Markets Act allows two kinds of firm to execute orders on the NSE: stockbrokers and investment banks. Both are licensed by the Capital Markets Authority and both act as Central Depository Agents, so either can open your CDS account. Investment banks also arrange IPOs, rights issues and bond deals, which is why the banks' brokerage arms sit in that category.

Apps you may have heard of fit into this picture rather than around it. Dosikaa, the exchange's own app, lets you pick one of these licensed firms inside the app. Ziidi Trader in the M-PESA app holds shares for its users in a pooled nominee account under CMA oversight. Whatever the front end, an order reaches the exchange through a licensee below.

Licensed stockbrokers

As published on the CMA licensee register on 14 September 2026, in the register's order. The register shows no category name or validity date, so treat the licence number as the thing to match.

Licensed investment banks

As published on the CMA licensee register on 14 September 2026. Several are the securities arms of commercial banks, so an existing bank customer can often open the account from the banking app.

AIB-AXYS Africa appears in both categories under two licence numbers. The register is a snapshot: licences are added and withdrawn during the year, so the CMA's own page is the authority, not this table.

What a trade costs

Most of the cost of a trade is fixed by the market's rules, not by the broker. Every buy and every sell carries these charges on the value of the trade (as at September 2026):

Sources: ABC Capital's fee schedule, which quotes the 2.1 % and 1.8 % totals, and CDSC's fee page for the 0.08 % levy. A KES 10,000 purchase therefore costs about KES 210 in fees, and selling the same shares later costs about the same again. Stamp duty of KES 2 per KES 10,000 also appears on some contract notes.

What varies between brokers

The levies are identical everywhere; the items below are where firms differ. None of them is published in one central place, so the figures for a specific firm come from its own fee page or a phone call, and they change.

• Minimum commission. Some firms charge a flat minimum, often KES 100 to 300, so a KES 1,000 order can cost more than 2.1 % in percentage terms.
• Account and maintenance fees. CDSC lists no account-opening fee, but some brokers charge onboarding or an annual maintenance fee (ABC Capital, for example, lists KES 100 a year).
• App or portal. Some firms trade through a modern app with M-PESA funding; others take orders by phone or email and confirm by call-back.
• Funding routes. M-PESA paybill is common; bank transfer is universal; card and international transfer depend on the firm.
• Time to a CDS number. From same-day in an app to a few working days for paper forms.
• Research and advice. Investment banks publish research notes and offer advisory services; discount-style apps do not.
• Withdrawal speed. Sale proceeds settle on T+3 everywhere, but how quickly the broker pays them out to M-PESA or your bank varies.

How to check a licence

1. 1

   Find the firm on the CMA register

   Open the stockbroker or investment bank list linked above and match the exact legal name and licence number the firm gives you.

2. 2

   Confirm it is a Central Depository Agent

   CDSC's own list of agents names every firm that can open and operate a CDS account.

3. 3

   Look at where the money goes

   Deposits go to a client account in the firm's name, typically a paybill with your CDS number as the account, or a named bank account. A personal M-PESA number is a warning sign.

4. 4

   Read the fee page before the first order

   Look for the minimum commission and any maintenance fee, and keep a copy of the contract note from your first trade to compare.

Where to look next

Opening the account itself is covered step by step in How to open a CDS account in Kenya. Placing the first trade, and why a limit order behaves differently from a market order, is in Your first order: market vs limit. Investors outside Kenya can read Buying NSE shares from abroad.