Black ownership of companies listed on the JSE has increased to 23,8%, trade union Solidarity said on Thursday.

This figure included the number of black people that owned financial products like insurance policies, investments, pension funds, loans and annuities, head of Solidarity's research institute Johan Kruger said.

He was speaking at the release of the union's South African Transformation Monitor in Pretoria.

Kruger said that this number was expected to double in the next two years.

This "remarkable" increase of ownership of listed companies and products by blacks showed the implementation and creation of black economic empowerment had already created significant benefits.

"Black ownership was at 23,8% in 2008, compared with 5% in 1993...This is expected to increase to as much as 24% in 2012."

Referring to black economic empowerment, Kruger said that the past had already taught South Africa an important lesson about the "unfair advancement of certain citizens".

"The unfair advancement of citizens and the unfair limitation of the rights of others, without any reasonable and acceptable justification is a recipe for conflict."

Data used for the research was acquired from financial institution Cazenova, the South African Reserve Bank and Who Owns Who South Africa, among others.

Kruger said that they decided to conduct the research because of certain groups who believed that the well being of blacks had not really improved.