Website to offer cheaper data faster

Investors are set to access information on the Kenyan market faster following the launch of a new online research platform.

The website will provide subscribers with data on key indicators of the economy.

Through the erafinancials.com website, prospective investors will access current and historical information on financial performance of all companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange from a decade ago.

The product, developed by Escrow Research and Analytics Limited, will also enable subscribers to analyse and forecast market trends using its web-based systems.

Structured information

At a launching ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday, the company’s chief executive officer Collen Tapfumaneyi said the system is aimed at addressing the need for structured economic and corporate information that can be useful in making strategic investment decisions.

“It will provide useful market information and analysis to international investors in addition to other macroeconomic data including employment, interest rates, taxation rates, money supply and inflation among others,” Mr Tapfumaneyi said.

The website, which contains about 94,000 records on the Kenyan corporate industry, financial markets and the key economic indicators, has been developed at a cost of Sh20 million.

The company plans to roll out the same service in Tanzania and Uganda, too.

Subscribers will access the data at fee of about Sh42,000 per year. For corporates, a charge of about Sh84,000 per year will be required for every five users.

According to Mr Tapfumaneyi, the country’s policy makers and investors have been suffering from information deficit thereby impeding accurate forecasts on such trends as inflation and interest rates.

“We believe that this service will improve decision making for investors and policy makers because they can now access accurate information,” he said.