Author: Laurence Sithole

• Zimplats is highly profitable. The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed company boasts a market capitalization of US$ 2.26 billion
• This subsidiary of JSE listed Impala Platinum is now one of its central operations accounting for 22% of its market value.
• Zimplats due to its early entry into the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe has great potential for growth given global platinum prices and the support the company has received from the country's government.
• While Zimplats is lucrative as an investments investors based in Zimbabwe have no means of gaining exposure to this asset in their portfolios unless they venture offshore. The company does not have a secondary listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Zimplats Holdings is an enigma to many Zimbabweans. They know for instance that the company is one of the largest foreign exchange earners for the southern African country, but few know that they can invest in it. Fewer…

• Tharisa PLC will be the latest foreign platinum mining firm to enter and invest in the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe.
• The Great Dyke has the second-largest platinum reserves in the world after South Africa.
• Tharisa has entered the Zimbabwean platinum mining sector through Karo Mining Holdings which owns the Karo Platinum Project.
• Tharisa will get into an 85%-15% joint venture with the government of Zimbabwe.
• The Karo Platinum project is expected to come on stream in 2 years and produce at least 150,000 ounces of the precious metal a year.

https://theexchange.africa/investing/investment-in-africa-2022/

Tharisa PLC which is listed on the JSE took control of Karo Mining Holdings when it increased its interest in March from 28% to 85%. The company is building a mine which it has named the Karo Platinum Project and is envisaged to take at least 20 years to complete. The first phase of the mine's development is expected…

• Zimbabwe's platinum resources are out of reach for most of the investing public.
• Platinum is one the largest generators of the foreign exchange for the southern African country.
• Zimbabwe has generated the most income in foreign exchange since 2013 due in large part to high platinum prices.
• There is currently no mechanism for investing in platinum for retail investors in Zimbabwe.
• The Great Dyke in Zimbabwe is the second largest platinum resource in the world.

Zimbabwe's platinum is not for Zimbabwean people. This may at first come across as an outrageous and even preposterous statement however, there is plenty of truth in it. This precious metal has been central to the country achieving a trade surplus as reported in the country's Monetary Policy Statement in February 2022. The southern African country received US$ 9 billion in foreign exchange receipts in 2021 which was a staggering 53.5% higher than the figure…

• China’s ambition is to eclipse the United States as the leading economy in the world
• The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s idea to increase economic cooperation with countries along six economic corridors using resources which will be procured from Africa
• Africa is not among the 6 corridors of the Belt & Road Initiative espoused by China but is the biggest if not the sole supplier of the basic resources necessary for the initiative to succeed
• China has become a globally recognized military super power
• China has the largest reserves of United States dollars of any country in the world.
• Africa needs to become the 7th corridor of the Belt & Road Initiative
• Africa’s resources and China’s nearly insatiable appetite for them present a golden opportunity for African countries to grow their economies and emerge out of poverty

China’s President Xi Jinping’s ambition is to make his country a superpower

Investment in Africa has become ubiquitous.

The United Nations-sponsored publication African Renewal shares the generally held view that Africa’s time in terms of investment is now. Investment in Africa is indeed sound and should be an integral part of every multinational company’s expansion and growth strategy.

A word of advice is in order, however, to all executives mulling a decision to set up operations and investment in Africa. The continent for all its economic promise requires a circumspect and carefully calculated approach for all stakeholders considering an investment in Africa.

The mistake many multinational corporations make when it comes to investment in Africa is that they mistakenly take the approach that Africa is one homogenous market. This view assumes that if a strategy in one part of Africa is successful then it can be expected to work with the same degree of success in every part of Africa.

This

Real estate investment trusts or REITs do not yet exist in Zimbabwe.

This will not be the case for long as internationally ubiquitous investment security is soon to be introduced to the country’s investment landscape. Only 5 other countries in Africa have this security or asset class as part of their respective investment landscapes.

The listed property sector in Zimbabwe on the stock exchange has been in a state of flux. The way that it looks right now is very different from the way that it looked like 15 to 20 years ago. There are only 2 pure play property companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange namely Mashonaland Holdings and First Mutual Properties. Both companies are heavily involved in commercial and office real estate and to certain extent residential property.

Over the last 5 years, two other companies that were listed under the property category were delisted and…

Sasol's results presentation in February was an awkward affair. The session was pre-recorded and then aired on the company's website.

It was not interactive. When the recording ended so did the webcast. Other corporate interactions and results announcements are usually interactive. The top executives of a company will meet in person with a group of individuals and the rest tune in online.

At the end of the session, the group of people in attendance are given the opportunity to speak to the executives of the company asking them questions and commenting on the financial results being presented. This was not the case with Sasol. But then again Sasol is not your typical company...

It left an impression that the top brass at the giant South African petrochemicals company does not like to take questions from stakeholders and analysts... Given that the company has just come out of severe financial distress…

Cryptocurrencies and the technology that enables them, blockchain, are here and they are here to stay.

They are not a fad. If there are circles, and there are many circles for that matter who still view them as a passing fad, then they are a fad that has been around for just over 14 years.

The first of the legions of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin was invented in 2008 by a little known individual Satoshi Nakamoto. Protagonists of cryptocurrencies have touted the 14-year-old invention as humanity’s giant leap forward in financial innovation. Cryptocurrency’s longevity so far and its now widespread innovation, however, should not be taken as a ringing endorsement.

A loose definition of cryptocurrency is that it is a virtual currency designed to revolutionize peer to peer transactions without the need for an intermediary like a bank or a credit card agency, the exchange of personal information and or transaction…