Jamaica plans to launch its long-anticipated micro-stock exchange by July 2026, marking the latest effort to deepen access to capital markets.
A multi-stakeholder steering committee is “now at an advanced stage” of finalising the implementation framework for the Micro Market, Finance Minister Fayval Williams told the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s (JSE) annual investors’ conference on Wednesday. She said it is expected to go live in the second quarter of 2026, narrowing the timeline from earlier statements that it would happen sometime in 2026.
Working closely with the JSE, the Government aims to create the architecture of a Micro Market, “a distinct two-tier segment leveraging the existing Junior Market as Tier 1,” Williams said. The design is intended to allow early-stage companies to raise equity, while maintaining investor protections and transparency standards.
The JSE formally convened the steering committee in June 2024, drawing members from both public and private sectors to design the new segment. The Micro Market would expand Jamaica’s capital-markets infrastructure by providing wholesalers, retailers, professional firms, food chains, garages and other small businesses with access to equity financing. Currently, even when formalised, these firms are too small to meet the minimum capital requirements for the Junior Market or Main Market.
Under the new framework, companies classified as micro and small entities will be able to raise between $10 million and $49.9 million. Last year, the committee estimated that the country could see 25 listings within the Micro Market’s first two years. MSMEs — micro, small and medium-sized enterprises — account for 90 per cent of Jamaica’s employment and 80 per cent of its income tax, according to a JSE release.
Drawing on personal experience, Williams noted that she and her husband, Leo Williams, helped establish Jamaica’s first real estate investment trust, introducing an alternative structure for property investment. “Utilising the stock market allows you to limit your risk,” she said, referencing the multiple REITs that have since launched.
Unlocking pension capital
Williams used the conference to make a broader case for mobilising the estimated $1.2 trillion in pension and insurance assets — equivalent to nearly one-third of GDP — which, she argued, remain underutilised. The pension sector held $830 billion in assets up to June, and the insurance sector held $500 billion up to September, according to the Financial Services Commission, which regulates the industry.
“There is room to unlock billions of dollars,” Williams said, stressing that regulatory changes must protect policyholders and pensioners, while freeing capital for deployment. She suggested that revising asset-allocation rules could release “upwards of $60 billion” for infrastructure, social sector projects and new financial instruments.
She pointed to health infrastructure as a near-term opportunity. Following discussions with the health minister, she noted that at least $26 billion is needed over the next five years for public-sector facilities. “The Government’s role is not to own all the physical assets,” she argued, suggesting the State should focus on regulation and oversight, while private capital finances infrastructure through structured vehicles.
Precedents
Williams bolstered her case by citing recent divestment successes. She pointed to the 2019 Wigton Windfarm initial public offering, which attracted over 31,000 investors and raising $5.5 billion. “That company gave Jamaicans an opportunity to invest in the energy sector,” she said, noting Wigton — now renamed Wigton Energy — continues to post profit.
She also highlighted the Government’s divestment of TransJamaican Highway in 2020 and the further 2025 sale of its remaining 20 per cent stake in the company: It raised some $12 billion from roughly 22,000 applications and lifted the company’s valuation. “Our market works,” she declared, pointing to the toll road operator’s revenue growth and dividend yield.
Williams also cited MoAir, the special-purpose vehicle through which the Government raised US$400 million backed by airport revenues. Even after Hurricane Melissa — a Category 5 storm that severely disrupted operations — investors “did not flinch”, she said. Credit-rating agencies affirmed the project’s resilience, she added.
Future public-private partnership structures should similarly mobilise “long-term domestic savings, pension funds or insurance companies and international capital” into resilient, growth-aligned assets, she argued.
In a smaller but potentially significant shift, Williams floated support for invoice factoring to address delayed government payments. Allowing financial institutions to purchase invoices owed by the State would ensure contractors receive funds sooner, improving liquidity. “Money must move with velocity,” Williams said.
neville.graham@gleanerjm.com
