Methodology
How we check forex brokers
Licence first. Every fact links to its source and shows the date we checked it. Commissions never change a licence result or the order of a list.
What is live today and what is coming
- LiveLicence checks against official registers, with dates
- LiveDeposit and withdrawal methods per country
- LiveFees, platforms, pros and cons from the broker's own documents
- LiveReader withdrawal reports
- ComingReal-money tests: deposit, trade and withdraw
- ComingAfrica.Forex Score for each broker
Step 1: the licence check
We match each broker's local company to the official list of the regulator in that country, then record the company name, the licence number and the date.
- Kenya: the Capital Markets Authority lists of non-dealing and dealing online forex brokers. A dealing broker can take the other side of your trades; a non-dealing broker passes them to the market.
- South Africa: the FSCA register of financial services providers and the FSCA list of OTC derivative providers. Where a company is only an intermediary, or a foreign company is the approved provider, the broker page says so.
- Nigeria: we follow SEC Nigeria warnings in Scam Watch. We do not list forex brokers for Nigeria until local licensing for retail forex is clear.
- CMA or FSCA licence
The broker's local company is on the regulator's official list. In South Africa this means an FSP number on the FSCA register or an approved OTC derivative provider (ODP) on the FSCA list. We show the company name, the number and the date we checked.
- Licence not yet verified
The broker or a published source says it holds a licence, but we have not yet matched the company and number on the official register. The page says what we found and where.
- Not on the register
The company is not on the regulator's list for that country. It may hold licences elsewhere, but you would not have the local regulator's protection.
A broker only gets a "Visit broker" button in a country where its local company is licensed.
Step 2: deposits and withdrawals
- Confirmed: the method is listed on the broker's own local website or client documents.
- Reported: only one published source mentions it. We label it and keep checking.
- Limits and rules come from the source that sets them: Safaricom for M-Pesa, the South African Reserve Bank and SARS for offshore allowances, the Central Bank of Nigeria for naira cards.
- Withdrawal times on broker pages come from reader reports and are shown as reports, not as our measurement.
Step 3: fees, platforms and weak points
- Account types, minimum deposits, spreads, commissions, swaps, inactivity fees, platforms and leverage come from the broker's own documents, with links at the end of each review.
- Every review lists cons as well as pros, and who the broker is not for.
- Each review shows the date it was checked. Brokers change fees often, so check the broker's current terms before you open an account.
How our lists are ordered
- The Kenya and South Africa tables list every licensed broker we track, in alphabetical order.
- The short list on the home page shows six widely used brokers with their status in each country. No broker pays to be on it.
- Find my broker filters by licence and payment method only. When our own tests are done it will also use costs, and we will say so on that page.
- A commission, or the size of a commission, never changes a licence result or a broker's place in a list.
How Scam Watch works
- We only list companies, platforms, websites and groups named in an official regulator warning.
- Every entry links to the warning and shows its date and the regulator that issued it.
- We do not name private individuals, and we do not add a company because of a rumour or a single complaint.
- If a regulator withdraws a warning, we update or remove the entry and say so.
How often we check
| Data | Source | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Broker licences in Kenya | The CMA lists of non-dealing and dealing online forex brokers | Every month, and the same day when we learn of a change |
| Broker licences in South Africa | The FSCA register and the FSCA list of approved OTC derivative providers | Every month, and the same day when we learn of a change |
| Scam Watch | Warnings published by the CMA, FSCA, SEC Nigeria and other regulators | Every week |
| Deposit and withdrawal limits | Safaricom, the South African Reserve Bank, SARS and the Central Bank of Nigeria | Every month |
| News feed | Public news feeds from named publishers | About every 30 minutes |
| Daily market brief | The news feed, central banks and official statistics | Every weekday morning |
| Invest & Save rates | Fund managers, central banks and tax authorities | When we check them; the date is on each page |
Every change to a broker's licence is published in Broker Watch. Mistakes we fix are listed on our corrections page.
Coming next: real-money tests and the Africa.Forex Score
We will open accounts, deposit with M-Pesa or rand, place a trade and withdraw, then publish the times, fees and screenshots. Each broker will then get a score on five criteria. No score is shown until it is based on our own test.
- 30%RegulationLocal licence, the company you sign up with, client money held separately, regulator actions
- 20%Deposits and withdrawalsLocal methods, fees and the real withdrawal time from our own test
- 20%Trading costsSpreads on major pairs and gold, commissions, swaps and inactivity fees
- 15%PlatformsMT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and the broker's app, tested on a phone
- 15%Support and educationLocal support, response time, languages and beginner material
Questions about our methodology
Do brokers pay to be listed or ranked on Africa.Forex?
No. Any broker on the official register appears in our tables, in alphabetical order. A commission from a broker never changes its licence result or its place in a list.
How do you know a broker is licensed?
We match the broker's local company to the official CMA list in Kenya and the FSCA register or ODP list in South Africa, and show the licence number and the date we checked. Always confirm on the regulator's own site before you deposit.
Do you test brokers with real money?
Not yet. Real-money tests of deposits, trades and withdrawals are planned. Until then, withdrawal times come from reader reports, which are labelled as such. We will mark each test with its date when it is published.
How often is the data checked?
Licence registers every month, Scam Watch every week, deposit limits every month, the news feed about every 30 minutes and the market brief every weekday.
Read our editorial policy · how we make money · corrections