How To Open a Forex Trading Account in South Africa
Retail forex trading, while simple for anyone to get involved in, is not easy being a consistently profitable in. Most traders lose money and many lose everything they started off with and never try again, or even worse, they get scammed.
In this post I’ll explain a step-by-step process on how to start forex trading account safely and with the guidance of one of the best teachers that I found.
Below you’ll also find a list of the best brokers to open an account with and if you need help to get started, then send me a WhatsApp and I’ll help as best I can.
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How To Start Forex Trading In South Africa
You need a trading account at a broker licensed to get started with forex trading. Get verified and then fund your account. Choose a market, select a currency pair like EURUSD. Analyse the market and predict where the price will go. Pick your position; up or down. Manage your trade.
How much do forex traders make a day in South Africa?
Many successful South African forex traders can make between R15,000 and R75,000 a day however that the average profitable trader makes about R500 a day and most lose money.
How much do you need to start trading forex in South Africa?
Some forex brokers offer free $30 trading accounts. There are some cent accounts that can be funded with as little as $5 or R70 though most brokers require a minimum deposit between $100 USD and $250.
Do forex traders pay tax in South Africa?
Yes, forex traders who are South African Tax Residents are required to declare all their income and profits from forex trading on their tax returns.
How long does it take to learn forex trading?
With access to a good quality training material, hard work and dedication to practicing, it should take you 12 months to learn how to trade forex.
What are the best times to trade forex in South Africa?
As a South African trader, the best time to trade is when the major market sessions overlap. This is generally between 10:00 and 16:0
Is forex trading regulated in South Africa?
Yes, the FSCA (Finance Service Conduct Authority) regulates forex trading
Can I learn forex trading by myself?
Yes, with diligent study, practice and dedication to improving your abilities, you can learn how to trade the forex markets. It’s not easy though and best to get a credible course by a professional Trader. I suggest you look for Al Brooks’ course. I’ll leave a link further down.
Follow these step-by-step Instructions on how to start trading forex in South Africa
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Find A Broker
The first and most important decision to make is who to choose as a broker. This industry is rife with scams and people collaborating and out there just to get your money and so choosing a trustworthy broker is essential for long term sustainable trading. There are a few brokers that I recommend and trade with, you can find them below.
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Learn the basics of forex trading
With a good and comprehensive forex trading course and at least a year of diligent practice, you can learn to become consistently profitable and make money. If you have a small amount, don’t try to grow your small account into a huge amount quickly, rather practice at being consistently profitable and you can even attract funding on a profit share bases.
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Try A Demo Account
First start with a demo account and make sure you understand how to place orders (market orders and limit or stop orders), and know-how to place a stop loss and take profit levels. Be aware that a demo account is not the same as a live account from a technical perspective, brokers sometimes use different servers than the ones used for live trading.
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Open A Live Account.
Once you’ve gotten used to practicing on your demo account and have some confidence in your chosen forex trading strategy, it’s time to open a live account. If you’re already with a broker from the step above and are happy with their service than check with their support if you need help to open a live account. ALL registered and legal brokers will want some form of FICA from you. Mostly that means sending them a copy of your ID and proof of address. The admin process takes a few hours to a few days, the compliance department works to see that you are who you say you are and when they give you the all clear, they’ll send you the login details for your platform (the better ones use MT4 or MT5, one of the most popular platforms around
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Fund Your Account and Start Trading
To fund your account, your broker will best be able to help you with their various payment methods. Most convenient is a card transaction or an EFT transfer and that’s why it’s more convenient to have a company that’s in South Africa. Most of the international brokers also allow you to fund your account with Skrill, Paypal or some of the other online payment processors or even cryptocurrency.
Forex Trading Course
My Favourite Forex Brokers
I have a few favourite local brokers. They are:
Exness
Trade with better-than-market conditions
Fast & reliable execution with free VPS hosting.
Tick-level data across all instruments
Trade across multiple markets with the most stable and reliable pricing in the industry.
This is perfect for both beginners and more experienced traders with the most transparent pricing, and fast execution.
Here’s a video describing the process of opening an account and starting to trade.
Trade Nation
Trade Nation believes in fair trading.
Their dedicated customer support team is on hand 24/5 to give you a more accessible and more human trading experience.
Their trading costs are fixed.
You can have complete confidence that charges won’t rise when markets get volatile.
You know exactly how much you’ll pay to enter and exit a trade.
They have offices in Houghton Johannesburg, fully regulated by the FSCA and have offices in many places around the world.
You won’t regret trading with them and they’re my top pick for a broker to trade with. Open an account here.
If you’re interested in being a TradeNation partner, please open an IB account here.
XM
5 million clients choose XM.
- Licensed and Regulated
- Globally Renowned
- Focused on You, the client
- Range of Trading Instruments
- Transparent and Fair
- Easy and Convenient
Global Prime
Global Prime is a new broker that I’m learning about. They’re extremely transparent as a trading provider and go out of their way to educate traders about the shenanigans that other bad actors get up to in the industry.
They run a Discord chat to be in touch with anyone in the team, all the up to the CEO.
FXPrimus
FXPrimus The Safest Place To Trade – FXPrimus operates in Africa under the name Primus Africa (Pty) Ltd, regulated by FSCA, with license number 46675.
Your funds are kept in segregated accounts, insurance for bankruptcy and no transaction costs for deposits or withdrawals.
They offer some of the tightest spreads around and have an excellent reputation so if you’re an experienced trader and have had enough of the many market makers hunting for your stop-losses, then check them out.
CM Trading
Fast Regulated and Secure
Groundbreaking trading technology at your fingertips.
Get instant access to MT4, CMTrading Webtrader and more.
Expert trading specialists will teach you the best trading techniques and strategies, perfect fir beginners.
Get a personalized educational package with 1-on-1 sessions
Get daily market updates, real-time technical analysis and weekly financial news.
Professional support via live chat, social media and phone.
Silver, Gold and Premium accounts get hands-on training with a dedicated Account Manager.
Muslim clients can open an account that strictly adheres to Shariah law.
Markets will give you a No Deposit Bonus
Markets.com is operated by Safecap Investments Limited (“Safecap”).
They’re regulated by CySEC under license no. 092/08 and by the Financial Services Conduct Authority (“FSCA”) in South Africa with license no. 43906.
Click here to open an account
ForexTime
ForexTime: A New Broker Regulated in South Africa FXTM is now licensed by South Africa’s FSCA with FSP number 46614.
Like all good (excellent brokers), all of FXTM’s client funds are deposited in segregated accounts at top-tier banks such as Barclay’s and Credit Suisse.
FXTM are one of the few brokers that offers all traders an insane leverage of up to 1:1000, tight spreads starting from 0.1 pips, and the ability to trade 100+ instruments.
They provide a great variety of optimised account types, desktop and mobile MT4/MT5 trading platforms, regularly hosts exciting demo and live contests, gives out trade-enhancing bonuses as well as useful free trading tools.
- ICMarkets – was established in 2007 by a team of professionals in the financial services industry.International Capital Markets is one of Australia’s largest Forex Broker and CFD providers with their head office located in Sydney. IC Markets is one of the few True ECN brokers worldwide and their mission is to create the best and most transparent trading environment for retail and institutional clients alike. Their motto is “by traders for traders” and IC Markets has consistently proven to offer superior spreads, execution and service.
- Mt Cook is a boutique brokerage that offers superior trading conditions for qualifying traders (or those who are following a particular copy trading or PAMM strategy from a money manager on their platform).You need a minimum of $2,000 to trade a live account if you’re a trader or you need to know of a managed account that you can join to trade with less money.
I hope that you have an effective strategy to give you an edge in the market, proper money management techniques so that you win big and lose small and the mental skills to put in trades in a clear and carefree state of mind.
If not and you’re still looking for a mentor, then contact me.
Good luck and happy trading.