The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has appointed Tom Mulwa as Chairman of its Board, with the appointment taking effect on 13 July 2026. The exchange’s board approved the appointment on 30 June 2026, following a review of its board composition.
Mulwa is not new to the exchange. He joined the NSE board in September 2025 as an independent non-executive director, and his elevation to the chair follows an orderly transition at the top of the organisation. He succeeds Kiprono Kittony, who retired as Chairman and as an independent non-executive director with effect from 12 July 2026 after completing his term.
The incoming chairman brings more than three decades of experience in financial services. He is one of the pioneers of the Liaison Group, which he joined in 1991 and led as Chief Executive from 1999. Under his leadership the firm grew from a domestic operation into a pan-African non-banking financial services group, with interests spanning insurance broking, actuarial services and financial advisory, and operations extending into Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. The group has reported annual revenues in excess of two billion shillings.
Mulwa takes the chair at a notable moment for the exchange, which has been working to deepen Kenya’s capital markets, attract new listings and broaden participation among retail and institutional investors. He has spoken of a mandate to widen access to the market and to support the exchange through its next phase of growth.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange is Kenya’s principal securities market and a central institution of the country’s capital markets, listing many of the nation’s largest companies across banking, telecommunications, manufacturing and energy. It is itself a listed company, and its board chairmanship ranks among the more visible governance roles in East African finance. The exchange has increasingly positioned itself as a gateway for regional and international capital seeking exposure to Kenyan and East African assets.
His financial services background is expected to inform the exchange’s agenda as it competes for regional listings and seeks to draw a wider base of investors into Kenyan equities and debt. The board expressed confidence that Mulwa’s long experience would support those ambitions.
The chairmanship of a national securities exchange carries responsibilities beyond the boardroom, from safeguarding market integrity and investor confidence to representing the exchange in dialogue with regulators, listed companies and government. Mulwa inherits an institution that has weathered periods of subdued trading and is seeking to rebuild momentum, and his appointment has been read by market observers as a signal of continuity in governance at a time of transition.
The appointment concludes an orderly handover from Kittony, whose term as chairman came to an end in the same month. Mulwa assumes the chairmanship with effect from 13 July 2026.
