Zimbabwean firms in SA roadshow

A group of Zimbabwean firms recently concluded a business roadshow in South Africa meant to find equity partners and provide exposure to huge markets.

The roadshow, from August 18 and August 21, was organised by DEAT Capital, a pan-African advisory firm based in Bulawayo and included local companies such as Premier Medical Aid Society, AF Logistics, Zimvest consulting company, retail and IT company Prime Time Group and APL diversified company.
While in South Africa, the business grouping managed to engage the Malaysian Trade Commission, including a group of businesspeople active in their country; Group Five, a diversified infrastructure and engineering company; Turner and Townsend and Gauteng Economic Development Agency (GEDA).

Deliberations also involved Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, South Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, Nepad Business Foundation, Africa Project Assess, Export Credit Insurance Company and Frontier Advisory.

DEAT chief executive officer Mr Nicky Moyo said in an interview last week the forays to South Africa were biased towards deal-making, adding that there will be a reciprocal visit by the South African financiers and government, trade and investment bodies in November.
“We know that there have been many events and deliberations that have been undertaken in order to promote the investment drive into the country and our aim is not to run a parallel process.

“We are in the process of finalising partnership agreements with some private companies based in South Africa looking to support trade and investment into Zimbabwe. “The response has exceeded our expectations and we are looking for as many projects as possible on a confidentiality basis to market the companies.
“Zimbabwe has emerged from a decade of recession and most of the companies are struggling to get working capital and re-tool,” said Mr Moyo.
It is believed that South Africa, as one of the biggest economies on the African continent, is a conduit to international capital.
Though the new political and economic environment has bred an enabling environment for business, liquidity shortages on the local market have emerged as the biggest challenges to economic revival.

Mr Moyo added that there were, however, concerns raised by South African financiers and businesses on the level of transparency on tenders and policy consistency. “South African financiers were particularly worried that it is increasingly difficult to access information pertaining to tenders and issues such as exchange control regulations,” explained Mr Moyo.

The Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement between Zimbabwe and South Africa has not been signed, as negotiators try to find convergence on shared interests.

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Zimbabwean firms in SA roadshow

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