Saud Shahbal, Founder and CEO of GulfCap Investment Bank. PHOTO | Courtesy.
Canadian firm Valour Inc. has partnered with GulfCap Investment Bank to cross-list its Exchange Traded Products on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
The Capital Markets Authority is expected to approve the cross-listing, allowing Valour’s ETPs to be traded in Kenya Shillings on the NSE.
This will provide investors in East Africa exposure to leading digital assets through regulated investment vehicles.
GCIB, a licensed investment bank by Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA), will lead the transaction advisory process.
The bank will ensure end-to-end support for the cross-listing, covering regulatory coordination, due diligence, documentation, investor engagement, and listing execution in line with NSE and CMA frameworks.
Valour is a subsidiary of DeFi Technologies Inc., a financial technology company that focuses on bridging the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance by leveraging digital assets to create new financial solutions.
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DeFi Technologies, Valour’s parent company, is listed on Cboe Canada, one of the largest Canadian exchanges that provides unique trading opportunities across multiple marketplaces.
The strategic engagement between the two companies marks a significant milestone in Valour’s mission to expand regulated access to digital assets in emerging markets.
With a robust suite of over 65 fully hedged digital asset ETPs already listed across major European exchanges including Xetra (Germany), Spotlight (Sweden), and Euronext (Paris and Amsterdam), Valour aims to bring secure and simplified exposure to digital assets to Kenyan investors.
Andrew Forson, President of DeFi Technologies and Chief Growth Officer of Valour, said they are proud to partner with GulfCap Investment Bank for this important initiative.
“Their proven track record in cross-border capital markets transactions and deep local expertise makes them the ideal advisor as we enter the Kenyan market. This collaboration reflects our commitment to building strong, compliant, and long-term bridges between global investors and decentralized finance,” Forson said.
Saud Shahbal, Founder and CEO of Gulf Cap Investment Bank, said: “Kenya is already one of Africa’s most active digital assets markets by adoption, and this initiative places us firmly at the intersection of capital markets evolution and fintech disruption.”
A key goal of the bank, he said, was to expand the frontier of financial inclusion by introducing regulated alternative investment products that resonate with the digital-first generation of Kenyan investors.
He said the bank was working closely with regulators and industry stakeholders to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, focusing on governance and investor protection.
