Mobile phone-based government bond,
M-Akiba, yesterday crossed the 50 per cent subscription rate, raising
optimism that it will hit the target ahead of time.
As
of 2.30 pm yesterday, at least 61,000 Kenyans had registered on the
platform, and bought Sh75.2 million worth of the bond through M-Pesa and
Airtel Money.
This
represents a 50.1 per cent subscription rate for the initial bond offer
of Sh150 million that opened last Thursday and closes on April 10.
Official
data, however, reveals that less than 10,000 investors registered on
the platform have bought the government security, suggesting big time
buyers are driving the numbers.
The Treasury is keen to
ride on M-Akiba as a new channel for raising public cash as it races to
keep pace with the huge infrastructure financing obligations.
The Treasury plans to sell a much bigger bond worth
Sh4.85 billion on the platform in June. Investors can purchase a minimum
Sh3,000 worth of the government security on M-Akiba up to a maximum of
Sh140,000 a day.
The government is, however,
considering raising the daily cap on mobile money transactions to enable
investors buy bigger chunks.
“We’re still waiting for
the central bank to give some guidance on this. I think they’ve taken a
rightfully cautious position,” said Bob Collymore, the Safaricom CEO,
adding that M-Pesa had up till yesterday accounted for Sh42 million of
M-Akiba investments.
The Treasury is banking on M-Akiba
to expand its revenue sources from the traditional pool of banks and
high net-worth individuals to include retail investors.
Most
ordinary Kenyans were put off by the previous minimum investment of
Sh50,000 for Treasury bonds, Sh100,000 for bills and the need for a bank
account.
Besides, they needed to visit Central Bank of Kenya for account opening and application for bids.
The
Treasury is also hopping that the 10 per cent tax-free interest rate,
higher than what is offered by the banks at seven per cent, will draw
more Kenyans to invest in the virtual bonds.
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