Top 5 Best Forex Brokers in Kenya, Reviewed for 2022

Are you looking for a forex broker with the best spreads? In this article, you will discover the top five best forex brokers in Kenya and learn how to start online forex trading.

How to Start Forex Trading in Kenya

If you are looking to start trading forex, you will first need to find a suitable online broker. To help you with that, we have listed the top forex trading companies in Kenya below.

Additionally, you will need starting capital.

How much do you need to start forex trading in Kenya? Fortunately, not that much! You can start with as little as a few thousand shillings because forex trading providers enable you to leverage your positions to place larger trades.

Finally, you will need forex trading education. The more you learn about currency trading, the better you will become at developing trading strategies that work for you.

Now, let’s look at the top online forex brokers you can use to trade FX in Kenya.

Top Forex Brokers

EGM Securities

EGM Securities is the first CMA licensed forex broker in Kenya. The Nairobi-based FX broker offers competitive spreads, an innovative platform, and floating leverage. Additionally, the FX broker offers 61 currency pairs, which are a mix of majors, minors, and exotics.

To start trading on the platform, you need to sign up for an account. There are two types of accounts; a demo account and a live account. If you are a newbie, you can choose a demo account and trade using a dummy balance. To sign, you will need to provide your full names, country of residence, and request a PIN to verify your phone number. The next step after signing up will be to set your preferred currency.

EGM Securities offers two accounts: Executive and Premiere. The minimum deposit required for an Executive account is $200. There are no commission fees for this account. The leverage is 1:400 and the spread is as low as 1.6 pips per standard lot for EUR/USD.

What’s more, the minimum deposit on a Premiere account is $5,000, and the typical spread charged for a EUR/USD pair is 0.2 pips. The account charges a commission of $7.

Features include:

• The minimum deposit is $200
• 60 + currency pairs
• Spreads as low as 0.2 pips
• Leverage 1:400
• MT4 Trading Platform
• Demo account

CM Trading

CM Trading is an FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority) regulated international foreign exchange broker. The FCSA is a South African financial regulator. CM Trading aims to provide a secure environment for users through its MetaTrader 4 and Sirix Platforms.

CM Trading offers over 50 forex pairs, as well as stock trading on close to 20 stock indices, including the Nasdaq and FTSE. Moreover, traders can speculate on the price of commodities and cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin.

You can sign up for a demo account and access the list of platforms and instruments. The registration process is simple and will take you a few minutes to set up your login credentials and verify the account. Then, you can now proceed to download the MT4 platform or try the Sirix web-based interface. If you opt for a live account, you can choose any of the four types of live accounts on the platform.

The minimum deposit balance needed for each account differs but usually range from as low as $250 to a maximum of over $100,000. Essentially, the higher your deposit, the tighter the spreads and more trading tools you get to enjoy.

The platform provides multiple payment options such as bank transfer, credit card, mobile money, and more. What’s more, customers in Kenya can deposit and withdraw money using MPESA.

Leverage goes up to 1:200 on CM Trading. The platform takes its cut from floating spreads. On major FX pairs, such as the GBP/USD and EUR/USD, spreads range from 2.6 and 1.5 pips respectively. For positions held overnight CM Trading charges rollover fees. Users should also be aware of a $15 monthly inactivity fee charged to dormant accounts after three months.

Features include:

• A minimum deposit of $250
• Over 50 forex pairs
• Spread from 1.5 pips
• Leverage 200:1
• MT4/Sirix Platforms
• Demo account

AvaTrade

AvaTrade is a Dublin-based forex broker that offers 1,250+ instruments including stocks, commodities, indices, cryptocurrency, and forex. The online broker has over 300,000 traders on the platform and has a monthly trading volume of about €50 billion.

AvaTrade offers a selection of manual trading platforms such as MetaTrader4/5, WebTrader, and AvaTradeGo with full mobile support on Google Play and the Apple Store. You can also select from a variety of automated trading platforms, including the AvaSocial app, Zulu Trade DupliTrade, and more.

To get started on AvaTrade, you must register for an account. To set up an account, you have to provide personal details such as your name, email address, and telephone number. Furthermore, you will need to provide your place of residence and account details. You may have to provide information on your past trading experience, so the company can determine whether you are suitable to trade on a live account.

Once this process is complete, you can begin trading. However, to deposit or make a withdrawal you must first verify your account. The minimum balance you can deposit on the platform is €100. Clients can trade at fixed and variable spreads.

Features include:

• The minimum deposit is €100
• Currencies include AUD, JPY, GBP, USD, EUR, CHF, and more
• Fixed spreads from 1 pips
• Leverage 400:1
• MT4/5 Trader/AvaTrade GO/Zulu Trade DupliTrade platforms
• Demo account

Top Forex Brokers in Kenya That Accept MPESA

Pepperstone

Pepperstone is a CMA (Capital Markets Authority) regulated foreign exchange broker. Founded in 2010, Pepperstone offers a rich customer experience with strong features, ease of navigation, and reliability. You can trade on MetaTrader 5 on your phone or laptop and enjoy the feature-rich interface and customisable trading environment.

To start trading on Pepperstone, you have to set up an account. You can choose to sign up for a live account. However, if you are new to FX trading you can opt for a demo account. To register, you have to provide information including your personal details, trading preferences, employment, income, and sign a declaration. Upon providing this information, you will have to verify your ID electronically to complete the process. The verification process takes up to 8 hours.

Pepperstone offers leverage up to 400:1 in the Kenyan market, which means for every $1 you have in your trading account, you can trade up to $400 in the forex market. The initial margin requirements for a trade depends on your account leverage, size of the trade, the instrument, and the transactional currency. You can calculate the initial margin using the Margin Calculator in your secure client area.

Features include:

• Minimum Deposit of $150
• Over 180 Currency pairs
• Spread from 0.0 pips
• Leverage 400:1
• MT4/MT5/cTrader Platforms
• Android and iOS app
• Demo account
• MPESA payments

HotForex

HotForex is a leading forex and commodities broker, that provides trading services to both retail and institutional clients. The platform is regulated by industry bodies, such as the FCA, FSCA, and the FSA. HotForex provides a safe and secure trading environment, with over 50 currency pairs and multiple trading platforms

To start trading on HotForex, you must sign up for an account. Click on the ‘Open Live Account’ and provide your personal details, country of residence, and email address. Review the privacy policy and if everything is in order, click on the ‘Register’ tab. The next step will be to verify your account and continue the registration process. You may also have to provide additional details such as the base currency, client type, and create an investor profile. Finally, you will need to upload an ID or passport and address verification documents.

HotForex offers six accounts that offer flexibility for clients of all risk appetites. Moreover, the platform allows customers using MPESA to deposit a minimum of KES 1,000. There is no charge for deposits.

Features include:

• The minimum deposit via MPESA is KES 1,000
• 50+ currency pairs
• Flexible spreads as low as 0 pips
• Leverage 1:1000
• 12 Trading Platforms
• MPESA payments
• Demo account

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