Nairobi, Aug. 19 -- Individual investors have spent an average of Sh4,818 to buy shares through the new M-Pesa platform known as Ziidi trader, reflecting the influence of the mobile money service in bringing small traders to the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

New data show that the average ticket size on the M-Pesa backed application has nearly doubled since launch in March from Sh2, 872.

The sale and purchase of stocks directly via M-Pesa marks the first-time investors are transacting in shares without going through stockbrokers.

Nearly one million individual investors have opted into the Ziidi Trader since launching five months ago, but the number of active traders has remained at below 150,000.

Backers of the application have a...