The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) listed its second Exchange Traded Fund, the iTrust East African Community Large Cap Exchange Traded Fund (IEACLC-ETF), on 28 January 2026.
The IEACLC-ETF is operated by iTrust Finance Limited as fund manager, with NBC Bank acting as trustee and custodian.
The IEACLC-ETF aims to invest in a diversified portfolio of large-cap equities listed on stock exchanges across the East African Community (Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania).
The Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the subscription of units in the IEACLC-ETF opened on November 17, 2025, and closed on December 19, 2025.
iTrust Finance Limited reported that applications were received for fund units valued at TZS 54.03 billion, compared to a planned issuance size of TZS 10 billion. This represented an oversubscription level of 540%.
Commenting on the launch, the CEO of iTrust Finance Limited, Faiz Arab, wrote on LinkedIn: “The IEACLC – ETF began investing on 20 January 2026, and as of 27 January 2026, the ETF’s NAV has grown from TZS 1,000 to TZS 1,064.95, delivering a 6.5% growth in just one week.”
The IEACLC-ETF is the second ETF to be listed at DSE. In October 2025, the exchange listed the Vertex International Securities Exchange Traded Fund (VIS-ETF), which recorded a subscription level of 136%.
About Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund that pools money from multiple investors to purchase a diversified portfolio of assets such as shares, bonds, or commodities.
Unlike traditional mutual funds, ETFs are listed and traded on stock exchanges, allowing investors to buy and sell units throughout the trading day at market prices.
ETFs typically track the performance of an underlying index, such as a stock market index, a sector, or a basket of assets.
Their value fluctuates with the prices of the underlying securities, giving investors exposure to the overall performance of that market segment without needing to buy individual shares.
ETFs offer several advantages, including diversification, liquidity, and lower management costs compared to actively managed funds.
They also provide transparency, as the composition and performance of the underlying portfolio are regularly disclosed.
Globally, ETFs have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the investment industry, attracting both institutional and retail investors seeking efficient and flexible exposure to different markets.
