Race to participate in the African trade corridors heats up

03 Aug 2011

During July the UK prime minister visited Nigeria (signed agreements to cooperate in trade, energy and immigration) and South Africa. At the same time the German Chancellor visited Nigeria, Kenya and Angola (German interest seems to be shifting from development aid to investment and extraction rights).

On his recent visit to Nigeria on the 19th of July 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron had some interesting commentary on Nigeria's growth prospects in the coming years

"Tell me this: which part of the world has seen its number of democracies increase nearly eight-fold in just two decades? Eastern Europe? No, it's Africa. Which continent has six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world? Asia? No, it's Africa. Which country is predicted by some to have the highest average GDP growth in the world over the next 40 years? You might think Brazil, Russia, India or China. No. Think Africa. Think Nigeria.” – David Cameron

Source: http://naijan.com/uk-prime-minister-david-cameron-visits-nigeria-on-july-19-2011/

SA Trade data for June 2011

02 Aug 2011

A trade surplus of ZAR4.9bn was recorded in June 2011, compared with consensus forecasts of ZAR1.0bn. This outcome was on the back of the net result of an increase in exports of ZAR4.2bn and a decline in imports of ZAR1.7bn.

This lowered the current account deficit for the first six months of the year to ZAR2.6bn, which was considerably smaller than the deficit of ZAR8.7bn in the same period of the previous year.

If global liquidity is maintained at high levels as expected with the current sovereign debt problems in both the United States and Europe and there is only a modest increase in international interest rates, a further inflow of capital will probably be recorded in 2H11 that should prevent a large depreciation in the rand exchange rate.

Sources:

SARS, I-Net Bridge, Renaissance Capital estimates

Visio teams up with Gondo Capital for Zimbabwe - focused launches

25 Apr 2009

Johannesburg-based Visio Capital, one of South Africa’s most established hedge fund firms headed by Patrice Moyal, is preparing to launch two Zimbabwean funds, set to go live on 1 May, in a joint venture with Ronald Chabvonga of Gondo Capital.

Visio currently has more than R2 billion under management, the bulk in South African equity hedge funds, including a joint-venture with Malungelo Zilimbola of Mazi Capital. The first fund, Takura, will invest in shares listed on the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange, while the Dura Fund is a private equity closed-end fund investing in unlisted opportunities. Chabvonga will be the CIO on both funds, supported by the respected Visio and Mazi team.

A Zimbabwean, he was most recently on the corporate finance team at Anglo Platinum/Anglo American, overseeing its $400 million investment in the country, and has also worked previously with Standard Bank and KPMG.

Chabvonga, who commutes to Zimbabwe every two weeks, says the country offers the potential for exceptional returns over the medium to long term with a risk profile uncorrelated to global markets. The Takura fund will focus on listed Zimbabwean companies. The stock exchange currently has a market capitalisation of $1.6 billion, down from the highs of $9.7 billion in 1997.

The Dura fund will target a limited spread of unlisted local opportunities, some of which have been already identified. The investments will take the form of direct equity stakes and/or convertible loans. The funds are available in US dollar or rand share classes.