The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) recorded a historic shift to value-led trading in 2025, with investors trading fewer shares but at substantially higher values, signalling market maturation.
Trading volumes dropped 50.09 percent to 623.70 million shares from 1.25 billion shares in 2024, while trade value surged 176.67 percent to K344.92 billion ($198.91 million) from K124.67 billion ($72.01 million), reflecting a fundamental change in investor behaviour.
This is according to an annual market performance report published by the MSE.
Furthermore, the number of transactions jumped 209.77 percent to 44,827 deals from 14,471 in 2024, indicating increased investor participation despite lower trading volumes.
Average daily turnover rose 178.91 percent to K1.39 billion ($802,070) from K498.66 million ($288,060) in 2024, while average daily volume dropped 49.69 percent to 2.51 million shares from 5.00 million shares.
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In a recent interview, MSE Chief Executive Officer John Kamanga said the shift demonstrates that investors are now focusing on quality over quantity, a characteristic of mature markets.
“Overall, 2025 was characterised by value-led trading activity, with fewer shares traded but substantially higher-value transactions signalling a more mature and resilient market,” Kamanga said.
Market analyst Brian Kampanje said the 2025 performance enabled shareholders to register massive capital gains, enriching those who disposed of shares, especially in the financial sector.
“2025 market performance has been great in so far as enabling shareholders to register massive capital gains in some counters and indeed enrich those who decided to dispose partly or wholly of those counters, especially in the financial sector and the conglomerates with huge portfolios in the financial sector,” Kampanje said.
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The Malawi All Share Index surged 247.63 percent from 172,039.93 points to 598,062.80 points, well above inflation of 26 percent in December 2025, positioning the MSE as Africa’s top performer.
Market capitalisation expanded to K32.56 trillion ($18.78 billion) by December 31, 2025, from K9.38 trillion ($5.41 billion) at the start of the year, now exceeding 131 percent of GDP.
