Growing up, one of the things that used to fascinate me was the Business Segment of the news. They would show the Nairobi Stock Exchange performance and I would see company share prices moving on the screen; some in red and some in green, some ranked as gainers and some as losers.
I admired the traders walking on the floor of the NSE with red blazers noting figures down in their notebooks. Whatever they were noting down, I don’t know; but what I know for sure is that they looked impressive!
Then came 2020, the dreaded year of Covid-19. But wait, they say that there is always an opportunity in every misfortune. I started hearing financial experts all over the world saying that the greatest wealth transfer in the world was happening right before our eyes! Who can forget about the surge of Tesla and Amazon stocks as online shopping became an everyday activity all over the world?
Do you want to tell me that if I bought just 100 Tesla shares in December 2019 which was trading at $30 per share ($3000) my investment would now be worth $40,000 in December 2021? And right here in my backyard (Kenya), if I had bought 100,000 Safaricom shares in January 2019 which was trading at 22Kes per share (2,200,000), my investment would be worth (4,400,000) in August 2021 (44Kes per share), which is literally a 100% return on investment. Wow! I now hated myself a little bit for not having the skills to invest in the Stock Market.
I needed to do something about this immediately! Asking around, I was told about the Stock Market Challenge which is organized every year by the NSE in partnership with AIB-AXYS Africa. Let’s talk about this amazing challenge now.
The Stock market Challenge is an online simulation of live trading at the NSE, where participating individuals receive a virtual startup capital of shillings One hundred thousand (100,000) to invest using the NSE for a period of three months. This is a unique opportunity for young investors to learn about the operations of the stock market as they hone their investing skills.
The participants even receive training and coaching during the challenge. The challenge costs the students only KES 300 which is payable upon registration and allows for three months of participation with the overall winners determined at the end of the competition period.
Prizes to be won in the 2022 Stock Market Challenge.
- Cash prize for investment. For top 3 winners to buy shares of a listed company on the NSE.
- Internship with AIB-AXYS limited.
This year, the challenge will commence on the 3rd of October 2022.
Make sure you register early on the NSE website using this link
Also follow AIB-AXYS on all social media platforms to learn more about the challenge, while also learning more about the services they offer.