The Cape Town Stock Exchange opened for business on Thursday. With listing costs that are a third of that charged by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, no doubt companies would opt for the Cape Town Stock Exchange.
It appears the goal is to encourage seamless listing. The Cape Town Stock Exchange reduces “the cost, risk, time and complexity for companies looking to list,” said Booysen. “This, and owning our technology, enables us to target small and medium firms of between R25-million and R2-billion market capitalisation.” Also, the Cape Town Stock Exchange will be able to offer companies equity and debt trading, said Booysen. The exchange managed to get its debt listing rules approved last year and is set to begin trading of debt in October, he said.
TWK Agri will be the first company to trade on the Cape Town Stock Exchange, and BKV Holdings will be listed a few weeks later.
The Cape Town Stock Exchange is also in talks with other African bourses to share its technology offering and work on a revenue share basis, said Booysen. The exchange, where companies with a total market value of R7-billion traded under its previous avatar, estimates shares valued at R50-billion will trade on the bourse by mid-2023.
According to TechCentral, the Cape Town Stock Exchange would like to become the Nasdaq of Africa and be able to attract companies looking to raise capital in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and others.