Three companies on the Kenya Stock Market are set to cross list on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), according to an official of the Capital Market Authority (CMA).

Mr Robert Mathu, the Executive Director of CMA told the press that those intending to cross list include Equity Bank, KenoKobil and Centum which owns shareholdings in many other companies.

"We currently don't know yet when exactly they will list but, in fact, there are other companies that have passed the resolutions to cross list.

When these companies do cross list, investors in Rwanda will have an opportunity to distribute their risks, and in addition, investors also get an opportunity to get more returns on investments."

Two Kenyan companies, KCB and Nation Media Group (NMG) are already cross listed. If the development is successful, that will make it five foreign/regional companies on Rwanda's Stock Market.

Equity Bank will be the most exciting of the three as it's one of the most profitable companies in East Africa with a regional presence in five countries - Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania.

In fact since going public in 2006, Equity Bank's shareholder value has grown tremendously creating immense wealth for shareholders.

With a customer base of 27,000 in 1993 the bank has made huge growth boosting at least 7.8 million accounts of which it claims over 50 per cent of all bank accounts in Kenya becoming the largest in Africa at least by customer base.

According to the bank's audited financial report for the year ended December 31, 2010, the shareholder's equity in the bank was valued at approximately US$336.7 million. The group has an asset base estimated at over US$1.5 billion, and shareholders' equity in excess of US$237 million, as of June 2010.

In July, the bank reported that it continued to maintain its growth momentum with the profit before tax growing by 29 per cent to close at Kshs 7.62 billion in the six month period ending June 30th 2012 despite the challenging micro-economic environment characterized by high inflation, interest rates hikes and foreign exchange volatility.

But KenolKobil Ltd (KNOC) is also presents good business prospects for Rwandan investors. It's Kenya's top lubricants marketer with a huge business presence in the country boosted by its flag brand brands Kobil, Kenol and Castrol that dominate the Kenyan market.

In June, this year, KNOC shares in Nairobi reportedly jumped by 9.1 per cent to 15.55 shillings the highest in more than a decade.Meanwhile, Centum Investment Company Limited (Centum) is the largest quoted investment company in East Africa listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) with over 38,000 shareholders.

Centum is currently valued in excess of US $ 140 million and consists broadly of investments in private equity, listed equity and real estate and the private equity portfolio is the largest asset class, with notable investments in the financial and beverage sectors.As Rwanda seeks to attract more investors, its immediate challenge is that of phasing out the open (manual) trading system to replace it with an automated trading platform to attract more foreign companies and boost activity.