Founded by entrepreneur Richard Maponya and his late wife Marina, the Maponya Group has already invested an undisclosed amount of cash in 4 Africa Exchange as it hopes to be awarded a licence by the Financial Services Board (FSB).
This signals that the group, led by businesswoman Chichi Maponya, is confident about the prospects of 4 Africa Exchange operating a competing exchange to the JSE in SA.
"We have acquired a 15% stake ... We have always had an appetite for the financial services space. My father was one of the founders of African Bank ... My mother sat on the board of Barclays and DBSA (Development Bank of Southern Africa)," said Maponya, who is also chairwoman of Brand SA.
The deal diversifies the group beyond its existing portfolio of assets including retail, property and poultry.
"We think there is an opportunity and space for our product and our business (4 Africa Exchange)," said Maponya.
Agricultural firm NWK, whose shares trade over the counter; Trifecta Capital, which offers shareholder administration; Intercontinental Trust, a financial and fiduciary services provider; and Global Environment Markets, a developer of exchange trading platforms; are part of the consortium that has set up 4 Africa Exchange.
They plan to cater for over-the-counter traded companies, such as small and medium enterprises, black economic empowerment schemes and agriculture co-operatives that were declared to be operating illegal exchanges by the FSB.
It was making progress with its licence application to operate as a stock exchange, 4 Africa Exchange said.
The FSB had looked at its application and had now invited the public to comment on it.
"We are hoping to go live in the second quarter of next year. The ability to operate the exchange is dependent on the FSB granting the licence," 4 Africa Exchange CEO Fay Mukaddam said on Monday.
She said 4 Africa Exchange was looking at selling more shares to another black-owned group. It could not sell more than 15% to the Maponya Group as the regulation does not allow for a single shareholder to own more than 15% of an exchange.
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