If there is anything Noah Greenhill, head of business development at the JSE, can be accused of, it is not a lack of enthusiasm. His exuberance over the Alternative Exchange (AltX) is one of the reasons for its success.

Greenhill can feel justifiably proud that AltX now has 84 companies and a combined market cap of about R30bn.

Companies that have listed on AltX say they have an easier time doing deals abroad and getting financing from banks because they now have the transparency that comes with being a listed entity.

Greenhill expects AltX at some stage to overtake the main board in terms of the number of listings. "We need to be representative of the economy in which we play," he says.

It was not always this way. It is understandable that, at the time of its launch, there was some scepticism over whether AltX would take off. Its predecessors - the Venture Capital and Development Capital boards - failed to attract many quality companies.

The JSE learnt its lesson and came up with several ways to prevent the same thing from happening to AltX.

For one, a company has to get itself a designated adviser (DA) who will guide it through the listing process. The DAs sit in on board meetings, give advice on corporate governance structures and find prospective investors.

So far the precautions for listing on AltX have worked out well, with only two companies getting suspended because they did not submit results on time.

Even institutional investors that once sneered at the idea of investing on AltX are clambering to get a stake in a company prior to its listing.

The JSE is not sitting on its hands when it comes to promoting investment in the junior board. It plays hosts to monthly AltX showcases for between eight and 10 companies. A 10-minute presentation on each business is given by one of its executive team.

When the showcases started a few years ago, the JSE struggled to get companies to participate - now there is a waiting list.

The JSE's assistance for investors is getting even broader. It has developed a Satrix-like product that allows investors to buy the 15 top companies on AltX.

No financial institution has yet developed the AltX into a tradable commodity, but it is still early days because this instrument has only been around for less than a year.