Pepperstone, a forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) broker, has expanded its geographical reach by officially entering the Kenyan forex trading market.

The brokerage has been granted a non-dealing Foreign Exchange Broker License earlier by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya for its locally formed subsidiary, Pepperstone Markets Kenya Ltd.

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“We’re extremely excited by the opportunity to bring world-class trading platforms, execution, and pricing to the vibrant retail and institutional forex market in Kenya,” Pepperstone Kenya CEO, Sahil Patel said in an official statement.

“Having traded for international banks over the past decade, I am pleased to offer the same level of product sophistication, pricing, analysis, and execution to retail investors as that received by a bank trading desk.”

Earlier this year, Pepperstone also secured the lucrative Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) license, and two other European licenses, one from Germany’s BaFin and the other from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), to continue its European operations post-Brexit.

The Untapped Retail Forex Market

Africa is seen as one of the growing, and yet mostly untapped, trading markets. Though many off-shore brokerages are trying to on-board Kenyan retail traders, the regulators remain vigilant and issued multiple warnings against such brokers.

Apart from Pepperstone, only two other brokerages, EGM Securities, which is the Kenya-based operations of Equiti Group and locally trading as FXPesa, and SCFM Limited, trading as Scope Markets, have gained licenses from the Kenyan regulator.

“Kenya is an important new region for us. It has become a renowned and well-regulated financial services hub in East Africa. The economy is highly developed and embodies entrepreneurship and growth,” Pepperstone Group CEO, Tamas Szabo added.

“We very much look forward to doing business in Nairobi and working together with the local regulator and government to develop the industry in a sustainable manner.”