Treasury starts sale of additional Sh1bn bond via M-Pesa

The Treasury yesterday started selling another Sh1billion worth of bonds via mobile phones after the initial Sh150 million issued sold out in days.

The three-year infrastructure bond, called M-Akiba, will be on sale until July 21 and left another Sh3.85 billion to be sold at a later date depending on the subscription of the second tranche.

The latest offer allows the use of Pesalink, a mobile banking platform run by banks that allows transfer of cash between accounts.

The Pesalink inclusion allows investors to make bond purchases of up to Sh999,999, boosting uptake and removing the lower daily cap of Sh140,000 set for mobile phone cash transactions.

M-Akiba allows a single investor to put in a minimum of Sh3,000 and a maximum Sh1 million, earning tax-free interest of 10 per cent.

They will be able to trade them on the secondary market at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) #ticker:NSE from July 25.

READ: Govt launches Sh1 billion M-Akiba mobile-based bond in second offer

The sale of bonds via mobile phones is a world first and is aimed at expanding the pool of investors in a country that needs money for infrastructure projects and where many people don’t have a bank account.

Few ordinary Kenyans bought government bonds, put off by the minimum investment of Sh50,000 and the need for a bank account.

M-Akiba will now be a part of all government infrastructure bonds.

“We are keeping the promise of financial inclusion for all Kenyans as the government permanently secures Wanjiku’s Bond and her place as an investor in the government bond market,” said Mr Rotich.