CNBC Africa introduces Top Trader

"CNBC Africa is about markets and providing investment professionals and lay people with accurate and actionable information", says CNBC Africa chief editor, Godfrey Mutizwa. "The introduction of Top Trader gives an opportunity to open the markets to young people as they begin their working lives. It is a part of our drive to diversify our viewership and content while demystifying the markets to a broader audience. Our first foray into reality TV, appropriately, is about our core business - the markets".

Trading with virtual money

Contestants will trade with virtual money on the Iress trading platform supplied by Peresys. Their trades are recognised by Dries van den Heever of 3Trade, and they also have access to Share Magic Pro software from Profile Media. Their laptops were provided by Samsung.

In the first episode, the contestants and viewers will be introduced to three high profile industry experts who will be mentoring the contestants throughout the competition. They are: Nerina Visser, head of Beta Solutions at Nedbank Capital, David Shapiro of Sasfin, and Ashraf Mohammed, CEO of Ascension Properties. Guest mentor in Episode 1 is Simon Brown of JustOneLap.

Contestants are: Gary Barford, Goitse Konopi, Jarred Freedberg, Oluwatosin Olaseinde, Nqobile Promise Khumalo, Saul Kaplan, Steven Bolleurs, and Zaheer Salojee.

The series, broadcast on CNBC Africa at 8:30pm, will conclude after nine weeks with a live finale and viewer voting on 6 November 2012.

For more, go to CNBC Africa Top Trader on Facebook.