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The JSE is assembling the building blocks to establish a pan-African digital marketplace and digital-asset capabilities within the next five years as Africa’s largest stock exchange plots its next evolution after almost 140 years in existence.The JSE’s new CEO, Valdene Reddy, outlined the company’s latest strategy, Forge 2031, with the exchange looking to boost its status as the continent’s premier marketplace.“We have set an ambition for a digital marketplace by 2031,” Reddy said. “Globally, there are many things that support a digital marketplace. It is not just crypto trading, but it is about providing digital support for any part of the value chain [things like] tokenisation and digital processes in settlement for example.“By setting up a pan-African digital marketplace, we respond to what is happening globally. We don’t want to stagnate but rather, in the next two to three years, find elements within the marketplace of what we do today that can be digitised, all the way from trading and clearing,” she added.“All our processes can become digital. Once we build that for South Africa, we can extend those services to the continent. We have established ourselves in the past 140 years as a strong global exchange and the largest on the continent. Showing agility for a future marketplace is our ambition.”The JSE, established in 1887, is one of the few exchanges whose market cap far surpasses that of the country’s GDP, with the value of companies and instruments listed on the bourse topping R20-trillion. By the end of the first quarter this year, the country’s GDP was just more than R8.02-trillion on an annualised basis.To achieve its goals, the company has redesigned its structure to meet changing client needs, rising complexity, and the need for faster execution. Under the new structure, six group functions now report to Reddy, who took over the helm from Leila Fourie in April, becoming the third consecutive woman to hold the position.The JSE said its new structure is geared to help it achieve the following objectives:Unlock growth capacity;Enable faster, more co-ordinated decision-making;Deliver integrated execution across the group;Drive innovation at scale;Strengthen commercial discipline and accountability;Sharpen competitiveness as an integrated exchange; andShift the organisation from co-ordination to execution.The mooted pan-African digital marketplace is the latest in a series of reforms the bourse has undertaken in the past two years. Some of those reforms have seen the exchange relax its listing requirements to make it cheaper and easier for companies to list and remain listed on the bourse after two decades of exits in which the number of companies listed has more than halved.The JSE has also divided the main board into two, catering for the needs of large and smaller corporates.Reddy said that supported by trusted market infrastructure, a strong balance sheet and a clear strategic roadmap, the JSE group remains confident in the opportunities available to it over the long term and is well positioned to enhance its relevance, global competitiveness and growth trajectory, while continuing to create sustainable value for shareholders, clients and the broader market ecosystem.“Our vision is to build and grow a globally relevant, resilient exchange of the future,” she said. “Structured around the pillars of Transform and Grow, the Forge 2031 strategy builds on the JSE’s proud legacy while providing a bold blueprint and strategic roadmap for the future, strengthening our competitiveness, relevance and growth trajectory.“It reflects a commitment to sustained relevance, ensuring that the JSE remains at the forefront of innovation while continuing to deliver on its core mandate of trust, transparency and market integrity. In doing so, the JSE is not only responding to change but playing an active role as an enabler in shaping the future of capital markets in South Africa, across Africa and within the global financial system,” Reddy said.Business Day
