6 Best Forex Brokers in Kenya(Updated List 2023)

Online forex trading is regulated in Kenya by the CMA. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in Kenya is the government’s statutory body in charge of licensing forex brokers and regulating their activities.

Overall, Exness is the highest rated broker in our research on multiple factors.

The risk of trading with a broker that is not locally regulated means that you’re in danger of losing your money.

The CMA issues non-dealing forex broker licenses meaning they cannot engage in market activities. They only act as middlemen between the international forex markets and you.

Comparison of Best Forex Brokers in Kenya

List of Best Forex Brokers in Kenya

• Exness– Overall Best Forex Broker in Kenya
• HF Markets – Forex Broker with Low Minimum Deposit in Kenya
• FxPesa – Local Forex Broker with Mpesa
• FxPro – Forex Broker with cTrader & Commission based accounts
• Scope Markets – Good CMA Regulated Forex Broker in Kenya
• Pepperstone – Regulated Broker with Zero Funding Charges & ECN Type accounts

We’ve analyzed the best forex brokers in Kenya using these parameters – regulation/safety, number of instruments, Fees, platforms and general trading conditions.

#1. Exness – Overall Best Forex Broker in Kenya

• CMA regulated – Yes
• Physical office in Kenya – Yes
• In the forex business for more than 10 years – Yes

Exness is a global multi-asset broker founded in 2008. It is registered and regulated by the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority (CMA) with license number 162.

It is also licensed to operate by FSA Seychelles, CBC Sint Marteen, FSC Brithish Virgin Islands, FSC Mauritius, FSCA South Africa, CySEC Cyprus, & FCA United Kingdom.

In terms of regulation, Exness has an excellent regulatory backup from the CMA Kenya as well as international bodies.

Exness Account types– Exness has the standard, standard cent, raw spread, zero, & pro account types. They come in KES, USD, GBP, AUD, USC, GBC, and AUC base currencies. All accounts come with a 1: 400 leverage. Exness also offers a demo account for practice purposes.

Minimum deposit for standard accounts is 10 USD and for raw spread, zero, and pro accounts is 500 USD

Exness Funding Methods– Bank transfer, Cards, e-Wallets, & Mobile money, all take 30 minutes to deposit and 24 hours to withdraw. Cryptocurrency takes 24 hours for both deposit and withdrawal to be affected.

Summary

• MPesa accepted? Yes
• e-Wallet payment accepted? Yes
• Card payment accepted? Yes
• Bank transfer accepted? Yes
• Cryptocurrency accepted? Yes

Exness Fees– Spread starts from 0.3 pip on the standard accounts, 0.0 pip for the raw spread & zero accounts, and 0.1 pip on the pro account. EUR/USD average spread is 1.0 pip on standard accounts.

Exness standard & pro accounts are commission free but the raw spread & zero account has a 3.5 USD commission, & the zero account has a 0.2 USD commission per side per lot.

Exness does not charge an inactivity fee. It also does not charge overnight swap interest fees. There are no deposit or withdrawal fees for forex trading on Exness.

Swap is not charged on all major currency pairs but is charged on minor & exotic pairs.

Summary

• Deposit & withdrawal fees? No
• Swap fees on major currency pairs? No
• Swap fees on minor & exotic currency pairs? Yes
• Inactivity fee? No

Exness General Trading Conditions– Exness offers 100+ currency pairs, Metals, Cryptocurrencies, Energies, Shares, & Indices.

Trading is carried out on Exness on any of the following platforms. Exness Trader App, Exness Terminal, MT4 & MT5.

Read more information about Exness Kenya on their website

#2. HF Markets – Forex Broker with Low Minimum Deposit in Kenya

• CMA regulated: Yes
• Physical office in Kenya: Yes
• In the forex business for more than 10 years: Yes

Formerly known as Hotforex, HF Markets was established in 2010 and operates under the HFM brand name.HF Markets is licensed by the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority (CMA) as a non-dealing forex broker with license number 155.

Exness is also regulated outside Kenya by the FCA United Kingdom, DFSA Dubai, FSCA South Africa, & FSA Seychelles.

Summary

HFM Account Types– there are four account types on HF Markets. The Cent, Zero, Pro and Premium accounts. There is also a demo account for practice.

HFM Cent account operates with the US cent base currency, and is designed for beginners who don’t want to risk much capital. It has no minimum deposit, zero commissions and comes with a 1:400 leverage

HFM Zero account has KES, USD, EUR, NGN, & JPY base currencies, zero spread, no minimum deposit, and a 1:400 leverage. However, it attracts commissions.

HFM Premium account has KES, USD, EUR, NGN, & JPY base currencies, no minimum deposit, zero commissions and leverage of 1:400

HFM Pro account has KES, USD, EUR, NGN, & JPY base currencies, 100 USD minimum deposit, zero commissions and leverage of 1:400

Summary

• Kenyan Shilling accounts? Yes
• Minimum deposit? Yes
• Demo account? Yes

HFM Fees– HFM takes a variable spread and although the Zero account is spread free, other accounts attract a spread. Average spread for the EUR/USD=1.2 pips

HF Market zero account has a commission of 3 USD  per turn for a standard lot, while other accounts are commission free.

HFM charges a swap fee for financing overnight positions. It varies from currency pair to currency pair but EUR/USD swap fee is 0.0 for short and -9.2 for long positions

HF Market does not charge any deposit except for wire transfers below 100 USD. Withdrawal is free

However, it charges an inactivity fee of 5 USD per month for accounts that have beendormant for 6 monthsand above.

Summary

• Swap fees? Yes
• Inactivity fees? Yes

HFM Funding Methods- Mpesa,local bank transfer, credit cards including MasterCard and Visa, e-Wallet, and cryptocurrency

HFM General Trading Conditions– HF Markets offers 50+ currency pairs, Metals, Energies, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Bonds, ETFs, Crypto.

HF Markets provides a variety of platforms for traders. It had an app that is available on Google Play store and Apple Store. It also has the MetaTrader 4 and 5 trading software.

For copy-trading, HF Markets had a dedicated account called the HF Copy where you open an HF Copy account and discover traders that match your trading style to copy.

HF Markets provides three sections traders can get information. There is Forex News, HF Analysis and Advanced Insights. These three provide traders with in-depth technical and fundamental analysis of the market.

Read more information about HF Markets Kenya on their website

#3. FxPesa – Local Forex Broker with Mpesa

• CMA regulated: Yes
• Physical office in Kenya: Yes
• In the forex business for more than 10 years: Parent Equiti Group is reputed

FxPesa operates under the company group EGM Securities Ltd. It is a registered company in Kenya and was established in the year 2012.

FxPesa is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority in Kenya as a non-dealing online foreign exchange broker with license number 107.

FxPesa Account Types– FxPesa has two live trading account types- the Executive and Premier accounts. There is also a demo account for practice.

For the executive account, the base currencies are: KES, UGX, TZS, & USD. The minimum deposit allowed is 5 USD. There is zero commission on trades and the spread starts from 1.4pips.

The maximum leverage is 1:400. The Executive account is available on MT4, MT5 and Equiti trader on all platforms.

The Premier account has a spread from 0.0pips, a minimum deposit of 100 USD and commission of 7 USD per lot per round turn. Its maximum leverage is 1:400. The base currency can be KES, UGX, TZS, & USD

Summary

• Kenyan Shilling accounts? Yes
• Minimum deposit? Yes
• Demo account? Yes

FxPesa Funding Methods– FxPesa accepts M-Pesa, EazzyPay, Airtel Money, Mobile money payments from Uganda (MTN & Airtel) are also accepted; as well as from Tanzania (Vodacom, Airtel TZ, HaloPesa, TigoPesa).

There is also the option of a credit card- here you can deposit or withdraw funds using MasterCard, & VISA in the local KES.

Bank transfers are also another method of making deposits. Both local and international bank transfers are allowed using KES or USD.

All deposit methods are instant however withdrawals take 1-2 working days.

Summary

• MPesa accepted? Yes
• e-Wallet payment accepted? Yes
• Card payment accepted? Yes
• Bank transfer accepted? Yes
• Cryptocurrency accepted? No

FxPesa Fees– The spread is variable and for the major currency pairs like EUR/USD, spread is 1.4 pips on executive account, and zero on premiere account.

There is no commission on trading for the Executive account. However, the Premiere account has a commission of 7 USD per lot per roundturn.

Apart from international bank transfers which have a fee of 15 USD, there is no fee on all other deposit and withdrawal methods.

FxPesa charges a swap fee as cost of financing when you leave positions open overnight. For EUR/USD the swap fee is -8.335 for a long position, and 4.014 for a short position

An inactivity fee equivalent to three basis points plus the SOFR 30-day rate published for the calendar month is charged after 180 days of no activity.

Overall, the Fees on FxPesa is good. It doesn’t overcharge its traders on the platform.

Summary

• Deposit fees on all methods? No
• Withdrawal fees on e-Wallets & mobile money? No
• Withdrawal fees on Cards? No
• Withdrawal fees on local bank transfers? No
• Withdrawal fees on International bank transfers? Yes
• Swap fees? Yes
• Inactivity fee? Yes

FxPesa General Trading Conditions– FxPesa offers 50+ currency pairs across major, minor and exotic forex categories. This broker also facilitates trade in commodities, indices, shares and ETFs.

FxPesa has the MT4, MT5 and Equiti Trader for clients to trade using any trading account. These apps are available on the Google Play store and Apple Store.

FxPesa does not offer copy-trading services. However, it organizes financial literacy events like webinars, seminars and other networking programs where traders learn and update their knowledge of the international finance industry. Aside from these, it also e-resources such as videos on YouTube.

Read more information about FxPesa on their website

#4. Scope Markets – Good CMA Regulated Forex Broker in Kenya

• CMA regulated: Yes
• In the forex business for more than 10 years: Yes

SCFM Limited with its trading name Scope Markets is a non-dealing online forex broker. It was established in 1997. It is regulated and licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) with license number 123.

Scope Markets Account Types– the Silver Account is a commission free account with KES & USD base currencies and a 100 USD minimum deposit.

The Gold Account: Comes in KES & USD base currencies and a 100 USD minimum deposit.  Demo Account: For beginners to learn how to trade using virtual money.

Scope Markets Funding methods– Cards, e-Wallets, Mobile money channels like M-Pesa, Airtel, Equitel & PesaLink.

• MPesa accepted? Yes
• e-Wallet payment accepted? Yes
• Card payment accepted? Yes
• Bank transfer accepted? Yes
• Cryptocurrency accepted? No

Scope Markets Fees– There is a variable spread and popular currency pairs like EUR/USD have a 1.1 pip average spread on the silver account, and 2 pip average spread on the Gold account. The Gold account also attracts a commission of 3.5 USD per side per lot

Scope Markets does not charge a fee for deposits or withdrawals but after one free withdrawal per day, you will be charged 35 USD/ 35 EUR/ 35 GBP to make any additional withdrawals.

There is an inactivity fee of 10 USD after 6 months of account dormancy.Scope markets doesn’t charge swap fees on major currency pairs.

• Deposit fees? No
• Withdrawal fees? Yes
• Swap fees on major currency pairs? No
• Swap fees on minor currency pairs? Yes
• Inactivity fee? Yes

General Trading Conditions– Scope Markets has 60+ currency pairs, shares, indices, commodities and Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) derivatives.Scope market platforms are the MT5, Scope copy, and Scope mobile trader.

Read more information about Scope Markets Kenya on their website

#5. Pepperstone– Regulated Broker with Zero Funding Charges& ECN Type accounts

• CMA regulated: Yes
• Physical office in Kenya: Yes
• In the forex business for more than 10 years: Yes

Pepperstone limited was established in 2010. Pepperstone Markets Ltd is registered with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Kenya and holds CMA license number 128.

Pepperstone is also licensed by the FCA United Kingdom, & ASIC Australia, DFSA Dubai, SCB Bahamas, BaFin Germany, and CySEC Cyprus.

Pepperstone Account Types– Pepperstone has two account types- the standard account and the razor account. The base currency for both accounts is the KES, USD, EUR, GBP and CHF.

Pepperstone has a demo account for new traders to learn the ropes of forex trading. The demo account expires after an initial 30-day trial except you have a live account and request to set it to non-expiry.

The available leverage on both the razor and standard account is 1.30. With Pepperstone, there is no minimum deposit for funding your account.

• Kenyan Shilling accounts? Yes
• Minimum deposit? No
• Demo account? Yes

Pepperstone Funding methods– Visa/MasterCard, bank transfers, Mpesa, and Pay Pal. For telegraphic transfers, the fees are passed on to the client. Withdrawals by bank transfers can take at least 3 working days

Pepperstone Fees– the average spread for major FX on pepperstone is EUR/USD = 0.12 pips on the razor account and 1.12 pips on the standard account.

Commission when using the MT4/5 accounts is 3.5 USD per side per lot, when using C-trader commission is 3 USD per side per lot,

Swap fee is charged as cost of financing overnight positions. Deposits and withdrawals are free with pepperstone as there is no charge however your bank may charge you and pepperstone doesn’t cover such.  Pepperstone does not charge any fee for account inactivity or dormant accounts.

• Mpesa accepted? Yes
• PayPal accepted? Yes
• Card payment accepted? Yes
• Bank transfer accepted? Yes
• Cryptocurrency accepted? No
• Swap fee? yes
• Deposit & withdrawal fees? No

Pepperstone General Trading Conditions– Pepperstone offers 60+ currency pairs, indices, commodities, cryptocurrency, shares CFDs, & ETFs

There are three trading platforms available on pepperstone. The MetaTrader 5, MetaTrader 4 and c-Trader.

C-Trader has a unique feature of allowing traders to fill orders with its advanced features and also lets you code in C4.

Copy trading on Pepperstone is known as social trading and traders can deploy the trading strategies of the more experienced traders.

Pepperstone partners with different social trading platforms to bring this initiative to its clients. They have MyFxbook, MetaTrader signals and DupliTrade.

Read more information about Pepperstone Kenya on their website

How to Spot a Good Forex Broker in Kenya?

There are a number of factors that traders in Kenya should consider in a forex broker. We’ve listed some important points we checked during our research below:

1. CMA Regulation – Any forex broker you decide to trade with must be properly regulated.

Most countries have financial regulatory agencies that provide licenses for brokers to operate. For forex brokers to gain this license, they’ll have to meet certain requirements that guarantee their trustworthiness.

Regulators also ensure forex brokers’ activities are in line with accepted best practices in the industry as they deal with traders.

Trading with a licensed broker protects your investment in the event the broker fails to meet its obligation. Your country’s regulatory agency can hold them responsible and ensure you don’t lose out.

It also protects you from being scammed by fraudulent forex brokers as they will not be able to meet the requirements needed for licensing.

Visit the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) website and download the list of licensees.

This list is updated whenever there is a change in any of the licensed brokers whether addition of new license or suspension of license.

2.Account Base Currency– In forex trading, your base currency is the currency that is allowed for use in your account. Simply put, it is the legal tender of your account, & all transactions are carried out through it.

Once you open an account and select a base currency you cannot change it. The only option is to open another trading account with a different base currency.

The base currency is very important as it determines your margin requirements and cash accounts, hence, you must ensure your forex account’s base currency is in your home country’s currency.

For example, if you’re from Kenya and the base currency of your forex account is the USD, what happens is when you make a KES deposit, it will be converted to USD, and you’ll have to pay fees for currency conversion.

This scenario will also play out when you want to make withdrawals, you’ll have to convert from USD to KES before you withdraw. The deposit and withdrawal fees can eat deeply into your trading funds and contribute to your loss.

However, if your base currency is in KES, you won’t bother about conversion fees thereby saving the funds, & using that amount to trade.

Base currency is determined when opening your account. Make sure you check if the broker has base currency in your home country’s currency. Most brokers have their base currency in USD, EUR, AUD, CAD, JPY, CHF etc. Ensure they have KES if you want to save some funds.

3. The number of Currency Pairs– A currency pair is a comparison of the value of two different national currencies compared against each other.

This is done during forex trading to speculate which will rise in value against the other. Currencies are expressed using currency codes e.g. USD for United States Dollar. Currency pairs are expressed this way: GBP/USD, EUR/USD, JPY/CHF, KES/USD etc.

There are major, minor and exotic currency pairs. When choosing a forex broker, choose the one that has a high number of currency pairs on offer.

A high number of currency pairs gives you the liberty to choose among varieties of currency pairs to trade. It can also help in diversifying your trading portfolio, as you get to trade different currencies across different countries and continents.

A broker with many currency pairs on offer also gives you the benefit of hedging against risk. Since some currencies are more volatile than others, you can trade the volatile pairs with high risk and hedge them with the more stable pairs.

The EUR/USD is the most liquid and highly traded currency pair in the world, and has many people ready to trade it. However pairs like the USD/KES (US dollar vs Kenyan shilling) are less liquid and highly volatile as not many people are on board to trade it.

Some other currencies like the New Zealand dollar (NZD), Australian dollar (AUD), and Canadian dollar (CAD) are called the commodity dollars, because their value depends on how much of commodities their countries can export. New Zealand exports milk, Canada exports oil, and Australia Gold.

Commodity currencies can be useful for hedging risk and navigating volatility in the forex market and are a must have before you sign with a broker.

4. Platforms– a good broker should have multiple trading platforms that are compatible with different mobile devices. Trading platforms such as MT4 and MT5 should be available.

The broker should also have a proprietary app to facilitate trading. These platforms should be available on the web, desktop, PC and different mobile devices like Android and iOS.

Most proprietary apps developed by forex brokers are extensions of the MT5 platform, but they are modified to have a more user-friendly interface than MT5. For example,HFM broker has the HFM proprietary app which Is easier to use than MT5.

Trading with a broker with multiple trading platforms will enable you to monitor your trades better, because you’ll be logged in on multiple platforms. You could also use your mobile device, web and PC to monitor trades.

Also, different trading platforms have specific tools and features unique to them, by having them all you get access to these features which provides a seamless trading process.

5. Fees– Forex brokers charge different types of fees ranging from trading commissions, deposit and withdrawal fees, spreads, overnight swap fees etc. These fees eat into your trading capital and even profits.

For example, spread- the difference between ask and bid of a currency pair, is one-way brokers make money.

The bid price is the price the general market is willing to pay for a currency pair, while the ask price is the price the broker is selling the currency pair to you for.

Whenever you open a trading order you notice your account is in negative, and that is because the ask price you paid your broker, is always lower than the bid price the market is willing to pay. By the time you close your trade at a profit, the negative balance will clear.

The spread is the broker’s profit. For example, the bid price for EURJPY is 1.4860 and the ask price is 1.4865. The spread of 5pips is the broker’s profit which he makes for every trade you execute. When choosing a broker, choose those with tight spreads or zero spreads on the currency pairs you wish to trade the most.

Some brokers charge commissions when you trade with them. The commission is a fixed rate or percentage brokers take for their services. Check the commission a broker charges for deciding to trade with them.

Swap fees or rollover rate applies when a currency CFD trading position is held overnight. It is a result of the interest rate difference between the two paired currencies.

When you ‘go long’ or buy a currency pair where the quote currency has a lower interest rate than the base currency, you are credited with the interest rate difference every night.

When you go short or ‘sell’ a currency pair where the quote currency has a lower interest rate than the base currency, you will be debited every night with the interest rate differential for as long as you hold the position open.

The brokers typically add their own markup to the interest rate differential and debit or credit you accordingly. Always look up the broker’s swap rate or if they charge or not. Some brokers offer swap free accounts. Also keep an eye on central bank announcements so you know when interest rates change, or are about to change.

6. Funding Method: Any good broker should have multiple payment methods- deposits and withdrawals. Multiple deposit and withdrawal methods have their benefits.

Multiple payment options give you the freedom to choose the best and most seamless way to deposit and receive funds from your broker.

It also ensures you can quickly exit your trade or deposit more funds, when you receive a margin call. During a margin call you are required to deposit additional funds to keep your active position open.

You could also lose money if you are unable to exit your trade as fast as possible when you receive a margin call.

Frequently Asked Questions – Best Forex Brokers in Kenya

Who is a retail forex broker?

A forex broker is an intermediary that facilitates trade in currencies for individuals. A retail forex broker can be an individual or organization that provides a platform for forex trading.

Who is the best forex broker in Kenya?

There is no single best forex broker, but Exness, HF Markets &FxPesaaregood forex brokers in Kenya.

All three brokers have been in the business for more than 10 years, accept deposits and withdrawals in Kenyan shillings, and allow payments local currencies.

Also, these brokers have commission and spread free account options to suit your needs. They also have a demo account for practice.

Which are the forex brokers with Mpesa?

The forex brokers with Mpesa are: FXPesa, Pepperstone, HF Markets, Exness, Scope Markets Kenya, and XM brokers.

How do I know if a Forex broker is licensed or legit?

To know if a forex broker is legit or licensed, go to the website of the CMA, and download the list of licensees.

Are there forex broker scams in Kenya? 

Yes, there are forex broker-related scams in Kenya. There have been many reported cases of brokers scamming through phishing.

Avoid any unlicensed broker to avoid scams.