Kenya is an emerging market for Forex brokers. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya also known as CMA regulates Forex brokers and financial institutions registered in Kenya since 1990. The financial regulator’s prime responsibility is to regulate and develop orderly, fair and efficient capital markets in Kenya with the aim of promoting market integrity and investor confidence.
In this guide, we will explore the best FX brokers in Kenya, taking into account their regulatory compliance, trading conditions, account types and the overall trading experience they offer.
A quick comparison of top-rated Forex brokers in Kenya
When choosing the best broker that operates in Kenya, there are a number of aspects to take into consideration. The first is whether the broker is regulated by CMA or operates under a global license. Furthermore, it’s best if the broker enables you to open accounts in Kenyan Shilling (KES) as this can save a lot of money on conversion fees.
XM
Read the review
Visit broker 8.4 8.34 CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.03% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
|
Pepperstone
Read the review
Visit broker 8.2 7.75 Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
|
AvaTrade
Read the review
Visit broker 8.8 7.63 CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
|
Exness
Read the review
Visit broker 8.4 6.97 CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
| ||
| CMA regulation | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Operates in Kenya under | FSC Mauritius, CySEC | CMA | B.V.I FSC | CMA | ASIC |
| Account currency is available in KES | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Spreads on KES/USD (commission – free Standard accounts*) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | From 1.3 pips |
| Spreads on EUR/USD (commission — free Standard accounts*) | From 1.6 pips | From 1 pip | From 0.9 pips | From 0.3 pips | From 1.1 pips |
| Maximum available leverage offered to Australian clients | 1000:1 | 400:1 | 400:1 | 400:1 | 400:1 |
| Minimum initial Deposit | 5 USD (10,000 USD for shares account) | 0 USD | 100 USD | 0 USD | 100 USD |
| Desktop Trading platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, DupliTrade, ZuluTrade | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Exness Terminal | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 |
*Brokers usually offer 2 types of accounts, namely spread-free and commission-free accounts. With a spread-free account, traders are charged commissions, while with a commission-free account, fees are integrated into the spread. To make comparison easier, we prioritize displaying prices of commission-free standard account types where possible.
More about the best 5 FX brokers in Kenya
Below you will learn more about account types offered by the brokers. In addition, we’ll provide detailed information on the Kenyan Shilling vs major currencies trading fees. What’s more, we’ll include license numbers so that you can check the license documents yourself.
XM
XM is a group of Forex brokers operating under various regulatory bodies, and Kenyan residents can register at XM Global.
XM Global Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) (license number 000261/309) and Trading Point of Financial Instruments Limited, as well as being regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) (license number 120/10).
XM was founded in 2009 and quickly gained popularity. The broker provides financial services to over 5 million clients from more than 190 countries.
There are more than 1471 assets available for trading with XM, including:
- 57 Forex pairs
- 1261 shares as CFDs
- 100 physical shares
- 31 cryptocurrencies as CFDs
- 14 indices
- 8 commodities
It should be noted that the minimum deposit required to start trading physical stocks is 10,000 USD. Furthermore, there are no Kenyan currency pairs available for trading.
Visit broker
8.4
8.34
XM offers 3 account types to CFD traders in order to meet the needs of different trader types. Let’s take a look at the comparison table:
| Micro account | Standard account | XM Ultra Low Accounts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spreads on EUR/USD | From 1.6 pips | From 1.6 pips | From 0.6 pips |
| Commissions | No | No | No |
| Minimum Deposit | 5 USD | 5 USD | 5 USD |
| Contract Size | 1 Lot = 1,000 currency units | 1 Lot = 100,000 currency units | Standard Ultra: 1 Lot = 100,000 currency units Micro Ultra: 1 Lot = 1,000 currency units |
| Negative balance protection | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Maximum open/pending orders per client | 200 Positions | 200 Positions | 200 Positions |
| Minimum trade volume | 0.01 Lots (MT4) 0.1 Lots (MT5) | 0.01 Lots | Standard Ultra: 0.01 Lots Micro Ultra: 0.1 Lots |
| Islamic account version availability | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pepperstone
Pepperstone is a group of companies operating globally under 3 regulatory bodies. Kenyan clients are operating under Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited; company No. PVT-PJU7Q8K | CMA Licence No.128
Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited is located on the 2nd Floor, The Oval, Ring Road Parklands, PO Box 2905-00606 Nairobi, Kenya.
Pepperstone was founded in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia, and since then has managed to expand its services globally. Today Pepperstone serves more than 300 thousand clients around the globe. Pepperstone has the largest variety of desktop platforms for traders and offers the full set of MetaTrader platforms, cTrader, and TradingView is also available.
Unfortunately, the broker does not offer KES currency pairs. Which is a downside for traders that wish to trade the local Kenyan currency.
Visit broker
8.2
7.75
There are more than 1200 assets available for trading with Pepperstone, including:
- 62 Forex pairs
- 1000+ shares as CFDs
- 23 cryptocurrencies as CFDs
- 23 indices
- 32 commodities
The broker offers Razor and Standard account types in order to meet the needs of different trader types. Razor account doesn’t charge traders with spread markups, and therefore is ideal for intraday traders that place lots of orders. The Standard account type is more suited to traders who place orders less often, such as swing and position traders.
Negative balance protection guarantees that traders will not lose more than what’s on their trading account, no matter how sharply the market moves. Compensation funds settle disputes between traders and their brokers, and although Pepperstone has this set in place, Kenyan residents will not be covered by this scheme.
| Razor account minimum spread | Standard account minimum spread | |
|---|---|---|
| Spreads on EUR/USD | From 0 pips | From 1 pips |
| Commissions | AUD 3.50 (AUD 7 round turn) | No |
| Minimum Deposit | 0 USD | 0 USD |
| Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes |
| Islamic account version availability | No | Yes |
Avatrade
Avatrade is a global Forex and CFD broker authorized in 7 jurisdictions. In Kenya, the broker is operating as Avatrade Global, under the financial authority of the British Virgin Islands.
Ava Trade Markets Ltd is a registered financial services company in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and is fully licensed and regulated by the BVI Financial Services Commission; license No. SIBA/L/13/1049
Avatrade was founded in 2006 and quickly expanded globally. Unfortunately, the broker doesn’t offer KES currency pairs for trading and this can be a downside for Kenyan traders that are interested in trading their local currency.
There are more than 1250 assets available for trading with Avatrade, including:
- 64 Forex pairs
- 629 shares as CFDs
- 19 cryptocurrencies as CFDs
- 30 indices
- 17 commodities
There’s only one Retail account type available with Avatrade and the broker provides negative balance protection for its clients. The broker also offers an Islamic version of this same account.
Visit broker
8.8
7.63
Exness
Exness is a group of companies operating globally under 7 regulatory bodies. Kenyan traders open accounts with the Exness branch managed by Tadenex.
Tadenex Limited is registered in Kenya with registration number PVT-LRUDJJB and is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya as a “Non-dealing Online Foreign Exchange Broker '' under license number 162. The registered office of Tadenex Limited is at the Courtyard, 2nd Floor, General Mathenge Road, Westlands, Nairobi.
The Exness group was founded in 2008 and has managed to expand globally since then. The broker serves more than 350 thousand active clients from around the world.
Unfortunately, there are no Kenyan currency pairs available, but they do have 256 assets that are open for trade, including:
- 98 Forex pairs
- 100 shares as CFDs
- 35 cryptocurrencies as CFDs
- 10 indices
- 13 commodities
Visit broker
8.4
6.97
The broker offers various account types in order to meet the needs of different trader types.
| Standard account | Standard Cent account | Raw Spread account | Zero account | Pro account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreads on EUR/USD | From 0.3 pips | From 0.3 pips | From 0 | From 0 | From 0.1 |
| Commissions | No | No | Up to $3.50 each side per lot | From $0.2 each side per lot | No |
| Minimum Deposit | 0 USD (However, can vary depending on the payment method) | 0 USD (However, can vary depending on the payment method) | 500 USD | 500 USD | 500 USD |
| Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Islamic account version availability | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Instruments | Forex, metals, energies, stocks, indices | Forex, metals | Forex, metals, energies, stocks, indices | Forex, metals, energies, stocks, indices | Forex, metals, energies, stocks, indices |
| Maximum number of positions | Unlimited | 1,000 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
HFM
HFM is a group of companies operating globally under 6 regulatory bodies. HFM Investments Ltd manages the Kenyan branch.
HFM Investments Ltd is authorized by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in the Republic of Kenya as a non-dealing online foreign exchange broker with license no. 155.
The CMA is a regulating body charged with the prime responsibility of supervising, licensing, and monitoring the activities of market intermediaries, including the stock exchange and the central depository and settlement system.
HFM serves more than 3.5 million customers globally and has more than 10 years of experience in providing financial services.
Unfortunately, the broker does not offer any KES currency pairs which is a downside for traders that wish to speculate using the local currency.
There are more than 3138 assets available for trading with HFM, including:
- 53 Forex pairs
- 891 shares as CFDs
- 2170 physical shares
- 11 indices
- 13 commodities
The broker offers Premium, Zero Spread, and Premium Pro account types in order to meet the needs of different trader types.
| Premium account | Zero Spread account | Premium Pro account | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spreads on EUR/USD | From 1 pip | From 0 pips | From 1 pips |
| Commissions | No | 3 USD per traded lot per side on majors. 4 USD per traded lot per side for minors/exotics | No |
| Minimum Deposit | 100 USD | 200 USD | 5000 USD |
| Contract Size: | 1 lot = 100 000 currency units | 1 lot = 100 000 currency units | 1 lot = 100 000 currency units |
| Margin Call: | 80% | 80% | 80% |
| Stop Out Level: | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| Maximum Total Trade Size (Lots): | 60 Standard lots per position | 60 Standard lots per position | 60 Standard lots per position |
| Trade execution type: | Market Execution | Market Execution | Market Execution |
Best choice of the broker in Kenya per category
There are traders that solely trade Forex pairs, while others prefer trading stock CFDs or cryptos. Therefore, we broke down brokers into each category and compared the number of instruments offered and trading fees to make it easier to find the best one for your trading style.
Best Broker in Kenya for Forex Trading
| XM | Pepperstone | AvaTrade | Exness | HFM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Forex pairs | 57 | 62 | 64 | 138 | 63 |
| Standard account trading fees of EUR/USD | From 1.6 pips | From 1 pip | From 0.9 pips | From 0.3 pips | From 1.1 pips |
Exness offers 138 currency pairs, including minors and exotics to its clients, while offering the lowest trading fees. For this reason, the broker is our pick for Forex trading.
Best Broker in Kenya for Share CFD Trading
| XM | Pepperstone | AvaTrade | Exness | HFM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Stock CFDs | 1261 | 1000+ | 629 | 5448 | 2170 |
| Commissions | From 0.003 | From 0.07 | From 0.13 | From 0.1 | From 0.01 |
Exness offers the largest number of shares as CFDs to its customers and is our pick for best share CFD trading. Maximum available leverage for trading share CFDs is 5:1.
Best Broker in Kenya for Crypto CFD Trading
| XM | Pepperstone | AvaTrade | Exness | HFM | |
| Number of Crypto CFDs | 31 | 23 | 19 | 35 | 0 |
| Commissions | From 0.0017 | From 0 | From 0.20 | From 4.2 | N/A |
For crypto trading our pick is XM. While it’s true that Exness offers more trading instruments, XM offers better trading fees in this regard.
How to check if the broker is regulated by the CMA or is just registered with the CMA?
Pepperstone, Exness, and HFM are authorized and regulated by CMA. XM and AvaTrade do not hold CMA licenses, however, they operate in Kenya using their global licenses.
It takes a couple of steps to check your broker using the license number. We’ll guide you through the entire process here in detail.
Step 1
The first step is to open the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya’s home page and locate the LICENSEES page. Next, download the file.
Step 2
The second step is to find the broker’s license using the registration number. Press control+F on your keyboard and enter the number.
All CMA-regulated Forex Broker reviews
In addition to the top 5 brokers that we have picked, there are lots of other brokers to consider, and you can check out our detailed reviews on brokers that are under a CMA license. In our reviews, the main focus is on safety and security. Furthermore, we discuss assets, trading accounts, and platforms in detail along with any other useful and vital information needed when deciding on a broker to use for trading. In addition, we guide traders step-by-step and show them how to open live trading accounts if they wish to do so.
