South Africa has a pressing need to reawaken its public markets and Utshalo must be complimented for setting out to do just that. The brainchild of Ince and Paul Miller is providing a platform to present initial public offerings, which have become so rare. Creating a pathway for the return of non-institutional retail investors is vital.
With modern-day technology, Utshalo can make this return in a considerably smoother manner. Changes to our financial services industry and the decline in South Africa’s public markets have impacted companies of all sizes. They have especially also hindered the ability of companies outside the top 100 to access essential capital for growth. Stockbroking has fundamentally changed, new capital raisings are few and far between, liquidity is drying up, and the delisting trend on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange should never have been allowed to accelerate.
Utshalo aims to address these critical issues and we hope that, quickly and by large amounts, it is not only able to boost our public markets but in the process also catalyse vibrant economic growth and greater employment.