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Kudzanai Sharara in London, UK
The Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund, is looking for investment into the group’s expansive business portfolio, which cuts across many sectors of the economy, chief investment officer Simba Chinyemba said.
The group is also willing to listen to offers for some of the entities it owns.
Mr Chinyemba was speaking at the Zimbabwe Capital Markets and Investment Promotion Conference held in London on Tuesday and Wednesday.
He explained that MIF was created to manage companies previously owned by the Zimbabwean government, aiming to make “sound commercial decisions” regarding their future.
Formed in terms of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act before being renamed, MIF is currently invested in over 65 companies across various sectors of the Zimbabwean economy.
Mr Chinyemba emphasised MIF’s goal of improving efficiency and performance within these holdings. While not seeking to replace the private sector, he said MIF was interested in partnerships.
Debt financing guarantees, Mr Chinyemba said, can be made available to private entities interested in investing in MIF-owned companies. Mr Chinyemba even stated their openness to receiving offers for some of their holdings.
“Many companies we inherited are underperforming,” Chinyemba acknowledged. “Our main focus over the next few years is to revitalise these assets for the benefit of the country.”
In an interview, Mr Chinyemba stressed the need to attract investment for these assets of “national importance”under MIF’s control.
“That’s why we are talking to investors that are serious about investing in Zimbabwe, understand our dynamics, and are in it for the long term as MIF is. And if there are people that are interested we are very happy to talk to them.”
MIF’s portfolio includes companies in various sectors, such as ZESA Holdings and Petrotrade (energy), ZUPCO, NRZ, and Air Zimbabwe (transport), Kuvimba and Hwange (mining), POSB and AFC (banking), TelOne and NetOne (telecoms), and Arda and Cottco (agriculture).
Mr Chinyemba said the nature of that investment may involve “outright joint ventures, buying some of those assets if we think this is in the national interests”.
“I can’t say which assets are those because it depends on our strategy. But certainly, as we go through their turnaround strategy for a lot of these SOEs we are willing to have discussions with various investors about the way forward.
“MIF is open for business, we are happy to listen to investors, who come to Zimbabwe. The opportunities are immense, and the perceived risk is much higher than the real risk in Zimbabwe,” said Chinyemba.
Online Reporter