Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Johannesburg’s stock exchange has switched from a decade-old campaign to get African bourses to combine, in favor of appealing directly to companies to list in South Africa, Chief Executive Officer Russell Loubser said.

“We’ve changed our emphasis, as some other African stock exchanges decided they didn’t want to work with us on this,” Loubser said in an interview today. “We are now speaking directly with the issuers.”

JSE Ltd., operator of the continent’s biggest exchange, is offering incentives for companies from Botswana to Kenya and Nigeria to list in South Africa by setting fees at levels to cover costs only, Loubser said. The JSE would also consider buying other African exchanges, “although nothing is currently on the table.”

The exchange is seeking ways to drum up trading after the FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index outperformed equities worldwide in the last 12 months, losing 20 percent, half the 40 percent decline in the MSCI World Index. The market value of companies traded on the Johannesburg exchange is $216 billion, more than six times the $35.5 billion of sub-Saharan Africa’s second- biggest market, Nigeria, according to Bloomberg data.

“A lot of investors are shell-shocked after the carnage seen in global markets last year,” Loubser said. Investors need “an enabling trading environment and stable governments” to return to the markets, he said.

New Team

JSE has held discussions with exchanges in Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana, Namibia and Mauritius. Zambia and Zimbabwe showed the most interest, Loubser said. Botswana is among countries that resisted the idea, citing concern that the JSE would take business away from smaller exchanges.

Under its new strategy, JSE is focusing on larger companies in these countries, mainly from industries including mining, agriculture and banking, he said.

The JSE a year ago appointed Maureen Dlamini to head a team that now has four people working directly with sub-Saharan companies.

“We are not looking to take business away from other exchanges, rather to improve cooperation between existing exchanges so that liquidity is improved,” Loubser said.

The JSE will avoid any “massive” acquisitions that “could go wrong.” He ruled out any purchase of Nigeria’s stock exchange.

“In tough times like this some of the best opportunities might arise,” Loubser said. “Some of the smaller exchanges may really be worth looking at, but this would be done incrementally.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Janice Kew in Johannesburg at jkew1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 20, 2009 10:48 EST