Safaricom and Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Monday announced a partnership that will see Kenyans invest in stocks using bonga points they have accrued.

According to the mobile service provider, the service is available to all Safaricom clients who can redeem their points through licensed Trading Participants, with 10 already activated.

The trading particiants include NCBA Capital, Faida Investment Bank, AIB-AXYS, ABC Capital, Old Mutual Securities, Kingdom Securities, Suntra Investments, Francis Drummond & Company, Dyer & Blair Investments and Sterling Capital LTD.

Peter Ndegwa, Geoffrey Odundo, Kiprono Kittony and Hilda Njeri. PHOTO/COURTESY

Safaricom says more Trading Participants will join the initiative in due course.

“As we focus on the next phase of our journey to go beyond, our aim is to continue transforming the lives of our customers by delivering a wide range of products and services that align with their needs,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

He added, “Through this partnership with NSE, we seek to give our customers more value and utility for their Bonga Points while creating more avenues for driving economic empowerment.”

To invest, customers will redeem their points at a rate of Sh1 for every 5 points through the ‘Lipa Na Bonga’ menu on USSD *126# or on MySafaricom App.

The largest telcos in the region added that customers will then key in the Trading Participant’s paybill number followed by their CDSC (Central Depository and Settlement Corporation) account number.

“Through this initiative, we intend to unlock more investment opportunities to investors using convenient and innovative solutions. The partnership resonates with our resolve to connect capital with opportunities as anchored in the NSE 2020-2024 strategic plan,” said NSE CEO Geoffrey Odundo.

Peter Ndegwa, Geoffrey Odundo, Kiprono Kittony and Hilda Njeri. PHOTO/COURTESY

Odundo added, “It further provides an avenue for retail investors to participate in the NSE and is coming on the backdrop of the stock market’s recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Safaricom’s retail and corporate customers have accumulated 16 billion points, valued at over Sh4 billion since the Bonga loyalty scheme was launched in 2007 to reward clients.

Clients accumulate a point for every Sh10 spent on voice, data, SMS and M-PESA charges.