The determinants of listing at the growth enterprise market segment in the nairobi securities exchange

Abstract

SMEs are the main source of economic growth in developed and developing countries alike (Kilonzo, 2011). In recognition of the economic role played by SMEs and their challenges in financing, Governments and private organizations have come up with strategies to increase access to financing for SMEs. Among this is the introduction of special capital market segments such as the Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS) aimed at reaching the SMEs for equity financing (ACCA, 2013). Using a sample of firms from Kenya, the current study researches the effects of different variables on a firm’s decision to list at the Growth Enterprise Market Segment in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Secondary data that covered a period of five years was considered in the study, where binary multiple logistic regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between the selected factors and listing at the GEMs in the NSE. From the study the findings depicted that there is a significant negative relationship between the chances of being listed and profitability as measured by return on assets (β= -0.123, Wald = 0.002 and p-value <0.05). In addition, study findings showed that there was a positive significant relationship between the chances of being listed and liquidity (β= 0.019, Wald = 0.061 and p-value <0.05), and sales annual growth rate (β= 0.205, Wald = 0.476 and pvalue <0.05). Since the model had an explanatory power of 35.3% future studies should investigate on other factors such as size of firm and their influence on listing at GEMS in the NSE.