veri blog

Kenya’s Ziidi Trader proves that Africa’s retail investor base is not a future ambition but a present reality — and that the infrastructure to serve it must be built to match. On 10 February 2026, Safaricom and the Nairobi Securities Exchange launched Ziidi Trader, embedding direct share trading into the M-PESA Super App. The platform went live to a market of roughly 35 million M-PESA users in Kenya, removing the requirement for a separate CDS account, a licensed broker relat

A credible hard-currency venue in an unlikely setting is exactly the kind of development a rules-based reference architecture is built to evaluate on its merits rather than dismiss on its reputation. The received wisdom about Zimbabwean capital markets, for most of the last decade, has been straightforward: interesting to watch, difficult to size, structurally complicated by a currency environment that makes institutional engagement challenging. That wisdom has been defensibl

An African market moving up the index-family ladder is not a category change for one country — it is a credibility export for the continent, and the kind of event indexation discipline exists to handle cleanly. The most important thing to understand about a market reclassification event is that it is not primarily about the market being reclassified. It is about what happens to everything around it when the label changes. Egypt is now close enough to a serious upward reclassi

Rwanda is the cleanest proof on the continent that market architecture, not market size, determines relevance — and that is exactly the kind of market Veri was built to make legible. I want to make an argument this week that cuts against some instinctive allocator habits. The habit is to equate market size with market relevance. Larger market, more attention. Smaller market, less attention, or none. That habit is defensible in a world where the architecture of a market scales

Why the Ethiopia Securities Exchange is the clearest signal yet that African capital markets are running faster than the narrative around them — and why Veri was built for precisely this moment. I want to talk about Ethiopia. But to do it honestly, I have to start somewhere else. For most of my career, when I told people I spent my working life thinking about African capital markets, the response sat somewhere between polite interest and polite scepticism. The markets were sm

A USD 5 billion listing in Lagos is the first real test of whether African public markets can absorb African champions at scale — and it is exactly the kind of moment Veri was built for. A company of this scale does not list in Lagos by accident. A deal of this scale does not price in Lagos by sentiment. It prices there because the market is now credible enough, deep enough and institutionally prepared enough to carry it — and because the alternative, routing to London or New

Veri Expands into Nigeria with the Appointment of Victor Bisong as Country Partner & Director Veri is proud to announce a significant milestone in its continued growth across Africa with the appointment of Victor Bisong as Country Partner & Director for Nigeria . This strategic expansion marks an important step in Veri’s vision to build a connected, accessible, and innovative investment ecosystem across the African continent. Strengthening Our Presence in a Key Market Nigeria

Africa doesn’t lack investment talent.It lacks efficient structures . Across the continent, asset managers face the same blockers:high fund setup costs, scarce seed capital, fragmented investor bases, long regulatory timelines, and complex cross-border market access. In that environment, launching a traditional fund — often requiring $5–10 million just to be viable — is frequently unrealistic. That’s where Veri’s Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) becomes transformative. An M

Nigeria’s financial markets are adjusting to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) latest move to reform its foreign exchange regime—an effort aimed at rebuilding credibility, easing currency volatility, and unlocking investor inflows after two turbulent years. The core of the change is a redesigned FX allocation mechanism that introduces greater transparency and price discovery through market-driven auctions, replacing a patchwork of official and unofficial rates. What’s New?

Africa has never lacked ambition. What it has lacked — unfairly, but persistently — is trust. Too often, conversations about investing in Africa are framed around potential returns. Big numbers. Fast growth. Catch-up stories. But long-term capital doesn’t respond to promises. It responds to process . Performance attracts attention. Credibility attracts capital. Global investors don’t need Africa to outperform tomorrow. They need to believe the rules won’t change unexpectedly.

A “what if” exploration of an Africa Market 100 index — a continent-wide benchmark that could simplify access, improve perception, and attract long-term global capital through structure and investability.

For many years, the dominant investment narrative around Africa has focused on access — how African investors can reach global markets, how capital can be moved outward efficiently, and how portfolios can be diversified beyond domestic borders. That access matters. But it is not the end goal. The next phase — and the one we are now actively building toward — is about bringing capital into Africa . Once continental connectivity is in place, once listed, OTC, and private placem

One of the most important milestones we’re working toward this year is completing full platform connectivity across the African continent. Not partially. Not selectively. But properly — in a way that respects local markets, regulatory frameworks, and the realities institutions operate within every day. By the end of Q2, our objective is clear: to have Africa fully covered across all investment environments we provide. That starts with what already exists today — access to li

One of the things I’m most looking forward to as we return to Kenya is the opportunity to sit down with clients and partners and talk openly about what’s coming next — not in abstract terms, but in very real, practical detail. 2026 is a pivotal year for Veri. Not just in terms of platform development, but in how we structure and deliver services to meet the evolving needs of institutions across Africa. At the core of what we already provide is live trading capability , which

In Africa, context matters. No two markets are the same. No two institutions operate under identical constraints. And no serious financial business thrives by being forced into a rigid, one-size-fits-all framework. That’s why at Veri, we’ve never seen ourselves as just a technology vendor or a service provider. We see ourselves as a working business partner . When we engage with clients across the continent, the starting point is never the platform. It’s the business. We take

This Sunday, I travel back to Kenya with our CEO and co-founder, Craig Wetton , and it marks our first trip of the year. As always, there’s a genuine sense of excitement — not just about the journey itself, but about what lies ahead. We’re returning to continue conversations, to strengthen relationships, and to crystallise work that has been building over time with clients and soon-to-be clients we’ve met, spoken with, and worked alongside on real solutions. This trip isn’t a

When I think about the future of Africa, I don’t see fragments. I see connection . Not broken markets. Not isolated opportunities. Not distant capitals and siloed potential. I see one Pan-African investment ecosystem — transparent, accessible, efficient, and interoperable. This isn’t a dream. It’s a clear roadmap. At Veri, our vision is to create one truly African Continent platform that unifies capital markets across every jurisdiction, and here’s what that means in action

For much of the past two decades, Mauritius has been widely regarded as Africa’s preferred international investment gateway. Capital flowed through its structures into Southern, Eastern, and increasingly West African markets, supported by legal certainty, treaty networks, and a well-developed professional services ecosystem. As 2026 begins, however, that long-standing role is being quietly but fundamentally questioned. Capital is becoming more direct, African markets are slow

Mauritius has spent the better part of two decades positioning itself as one of the most credible international financial centres (IFCs) servicing cross-border investment into Africa and beyond. Its appeal has rested on a familiar but carefully balanced proposition: regulatory credibility, tax efficiency, political stability, and strong professional services infrastructure. As 2026 begins, however, the Mauritian IFC finds itself at a critical juncture. Global regulatory expec

Kenya is cashing in its crown jewel. In the biggest privatisation move in nearly 20 years, the government has agreed to sell a 15% stake in Safaricom – East Africa’s most valuable company – to Vodacom/Vodafone for roughly $1.6 billion , cutting the state’s holding from 35% to 20% and handing majority control to the South African group. The deal is priced at KES 34 per share , a hefty premium to recent market levels, and includes an upfront payment of about KES 40.2 billion