Exchange of South Africa or BESA. At the end of 2006 there were 725 issues traded on the BESA with a total value of approximately ZAR725 billion, or about £47.7 billion at current exchange rates. (Bond Exchange Of South Africa, 2007)
It should be noted that corporate bonds are a fraction of the total as illustrated in the graphic above from the exchange web site.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange lists the equity securities of more than 400 companies and had a market value of US$182 billion (£120 billion) at the time the article was written and was the tenth largest exchange in the world. By way of comparison, at the time the market capitalization of the South African market was valued it was almost as much as the market value of Apple Inc. It is the largest exchange in Africa.
The stock exchange is technically current and up to date. It provides a foundation for a much larger and more sophisticated financial market than now exists. It is unusual in that it actually consists of two sets of listing, one called the "mainboard," which has most of the listing and has rather strict rules of company eligibility. The second is called the AltX list for smaller black-owned companies that fail to meet the eligibility requirements of "mainboard". This is a unique and innovative approach for creating markets for emerging companies. (Johannesburg Stock Exchange, 2008)
The stock exchange is fully electronic with a proprietary order matching system called JET for Johannesburg Electronic Trading system. The traditional outcry system was eliminated in 1996, the exchange floor was closed, and all trading handled electronically. The traditional closed South African market included the stock exchange until 1995. Prior to that only citizens of South Africa were permitted as stockbrokers. This was modified to permit non-South African citizens and corporations to act as brokers. The exchange was incorporated in 2005, but rema...