AltX is an alternative public equity exchange

Stock market

A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...

 for small and medium sized companies in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 operated in parallel with and wholly owned by the JSE Securities Exchange. As of July 2008 the shares of just over 80 companies listed on AltX had a combined value of over R30-billion.

History

The exchange launched in October 2003 as a nursery for the JSE main board, replacing the failed venture capital and development capital boards established as sub-sets of the main board in the 1980s. It was intended to encourage entrepreneurship, especially among South Africa's emerging black middle class.

Beige Holdings Limited and Insurance Outsourcing Managers' Holding Limited were the first companies to list, in January 2004.