JOHANNESBURG - A very busy Fay Mukaddam the chief executive of 4 Africa Exchange (4AX), said that the new exchange, 4AX, will hopefully go live on September 28 and hold its first listing in 4AX’s head office in Bryanston, Gauteng.
However, she refused to be drawn out further on details of the planned event. The exchange has eight other listings lined up. Listings range from tourism and hospitality to renewable energy, property and other sectors.
Mukaddam explained that 4AX was the only other fully licensed exchange besides the JSE. This meant it could list a range of various products such as debt, exchange traded funds and structured notes.
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Mukaddam said the exchange, which aims to be easily accessible to the man or woman in the street, wanted to attract new listings through being less regulatory onerous to list on the JSE and cheaper. 4AX's focus is on equity listings from qualifying issuers with a market capitalisation of above R100m and up to R8bn.
Mukaddam said 4AX was a game changer. “We are adopting an inclusive approach, so information will be available.” “We own our own technology. Because of the technology we can keep our staff numbers and fees down. Things are much simpler." She said the market was changing.
South Africa now has three new stock exchanges -ZAR X, 4AX and A2X Markets - plus the JSE. All the exchanges differed and catered to different sectors of the market, she said. “We have a cordial relationship with the JSE. We couldn’t do what we are doing without who they are. They have a different role in the market place and encourage corporate activity. They are very expensive and you chase compliance,” she said.
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“We want to bring Africa’s innovators to the world,” Mukaddam said. “Africa’s is the youngest most vibrant continent.” JSE informs investors on changes to their listed equities via SENS statements. 4AX will make information open to investors available on the 4AX website, an issuer portal and put the market information on their website.
“We will engage with Bloomberg and Reuters. We feel we will be here for a long time if we have an inclusive approach. Information must be readily available. We will have a 15 minutes delay,” she said. Talking about negative growth in South Africa, she said it was about making a change and looking at the future. “Just because you might not have roast leg tonight, maybe you would like to have it this time next year,” she said.
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“How do you make a success? You need both institutional and retail investors. I have to take a leap of faith. Investors are excited about the regional strategy and things are dire at the moment. We must all take a breath. It is a robust environment and a true democracy. We must have faith that our structures are strong.” Mukaddam said: "We have to change the trajectory we are on. Where is the empowerment? It is how do we do it today. It is not just how we model the exchange.”