Nairobi — Kenyans have been urged to tap on their high knowledge levels in online trading to gain maximum benefits from both local and global markets.
Speaking to Capital Business, Scope Markets Chief Markets Analyst, James Hughes noted that in his over 20 years experience in the trading industry the Kenyan market base knowledge level in markets is quite high.
"The Kenyan retail market is one of the best for us globally with higher knowledge levels than even the United Kingdom for beginners," he said.
Hughes noted that Kenya's great potential can be seen with the number of licensed online forex traders setting up in the country.
"When we came to Kenya, we were the second licensed trader, but now we are more than 10," he said.
He further noted that the pandemic which saw many people stay at home created a huge appetite for the online trading.
Scope markets offers a trading platform for commodities such as oil, gold, you can also trade on currencies, individual stocks and indices.
The platform currently has over 80,000 clients in Kenya, it is also based in South Africa and Nigeria.
Despite the high appetite, Hughes noted that the industry is also prone to unscrupulous and unregulated traders who end up scamming unknowing Kenyans.
"For you to trade you need to look at warning signs to notice scammers, for instance no regulated firm will ask you to pay to a personal bank account. When licensed by regulators such as Capital Markets Authority(CMA) you are expected to have a payment provider as a trader," he said.
The CMA has been in plans to weed out a high number of fake websites and licensing of these companies has given investors room to tap into offshore markets safely, increasing the participation of local traders and brokers.
While online forex offers high returns, it also comes with major risks of loss, making it suitable for sophisticated and high-net-worth clients.
Forex trading has gained traction among young people who are digitally savvy and seek opportunities beyond mainstream asset classes such as bonds, stocks, and real estate.
