JSE and government discussing possibility of listing SOEs

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and government are discussing the possibility of listing state-owned enterprises as part of their expanding partnership to grow and develop the economy.

The two parties say other areas of potential collaboration include the establishment of a township stock exchange and investment into the carbon market.

Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, Maropene Ramokgopa attended a meeting at the JSE where potential public-private partnerships in policy development topped the agenda.

“Before it used to be that, SOEs are just government controlled and governed, but now that we are coming up with a bill that is already in Parliament. We are hoping that by the end of February the last leg of public participation is finalized. That would allow us to start saying that SOEs can actually be listed, where as before they were not part of that. So, the process of ensuring that our SOEs are based on market orientation has already started, and it’s for this reason that we came here as well and they are going to assist us to come up with policy frameworks that will allow us to do a better job,” says Ramokgopa.