East African stock market chief executives are seeking to revive the long-stalled Capital Markets Infrastructure (CMI) project, a regional initiative aimed at electronically linking exchanges to boost cross-border trading, deepen liquidity and expand investment opportunities.

The project, under development for more than a decade, seeks to connect eight stock markets —Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — into a single trading network aligned with the East African Community (EAC) integration agenda.

Discussions on the project’s second phase have brought on board Kenya, South Sudan, Burundi, the DRC, Somalia and Ethiopia. Burundi and Somalia now have nascent exchanges, while South Sudan and the DRC are in the process of establishing theirs.

Initially supported by the World Bank, the project aims to make cross-border share trading cheaper and faster. Launched in 2015, it stalled amid funding constraints, procurement disputes, the absence of functioning exchanges in some partner states and weak political backing.

Old obstaclesLast week, regional stock market heads, including executives from the newly established Ethiopian and Somali exchanges, met in Arusha, Tanzania, for their first joint meeting of the year to review the project’s status. The initiative is viewed as a key integration effort to reduce the cost and settlement time of cross-border trades.

Arusha restartThe Arusha meeting brought together chief executives and senior officials from regional exchanges, regulators, central banks, depositories and the EAC Secretariat to map the next phase.

Nairobi Securities Exchange chief executive Frank Mwiti, who chaired the meeting, said the goal was to align all eight EAC partner states, alongside Ethiopia, ahead of phase two. He said funding would come from the African Development Bank (AfDB).“With all EAC partner states, plus Ethiopia, at the table, the foundations for an integrated East African capital market are being laid,” Mr Mwiti said.

He said the current planning phase would involve wider participation than phase one, which included only Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda and was financed by the World Bank.

Ethiopia launched the Ethiopian Securities Exchange in January last year, ending a 50-year wait for a stock market. Somalia followed in June with the launch of its National Securities Exchange.“This is not a unified exchange,” Mr Mwiti said. “We are linking exchanges to enable cross-border trading, capital raising and investment.”Kenya’s exit and returnAmong the five countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – that set out to implement the project in 2015, only Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda proceeded with phase one.

Read: Why Kenya opted out of EAC project to link stock marketsKenya withdrew over concerns about software procurement, while Burundi lacked a functional exchange. Kenya’s absence was significant, given that Nairobi hosts the region’s largest bourse.

In 2025, the Nairobi exchange announced plans to rejoin the project in phase two, citing expanded growth prospects following the admission of the DRC and Somalia into the bloc. Industry sources say AfDB made Kenya’s participation a condition for new funding.

Rwanda Stock Exchange chief executive Celestin Rwabukumba said last year that phase two would bring all exchanges on board, including newer markets such as Somalia, Burundi and Ethiopia.

Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania have already interconnected their trading systems and linked them to the CMI platform. Kenya exited the project in 2015 after the software contract was awarded to Pakistan-based InfoTech Private Ltd, citing procurement irregularities.

Kenya later set conditions for rejoining, including fresh procurement of the software, clarity on maintenance financing and agreement on cost-sharing. In 2025, the NSE softened its position and agreed to return, citing increased business potential.

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