For Zungu Investments, the end of 2024 marked the end of a successful year of concluding strategic investments in the company’s efforts to diversify and grow its investment footprint across the African continent and beyond.
Commenting on the investment holding company’s performance for the year, Zungu Investments Chairman, Sandile Zungu, said the investments completed were part of the company’s growth strategy to diversify into other sectors and countries.
“Zungu Investments has set its sights on growing and diversifying its investment portfolio. This involves acquiring strategic assets across the world and in the African continent, where our investment helps countries meet their development agenda and makes a difference in the lives of ordinary people,” said Zungu.
The investment company concluded several key investments cementing its position as a major player in the investment space. The most talked about of these is the company’s investment into the Harith Infraco consortium which acquired the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund’s shareholding in Aldwych Holdings Ltd (AHL). AHL owns Anergi Holding Group, Community Investment Venture Holdings (CIVH), and a stake in Lanseria, South Africa’s only private airport. Arnegi Holding Group owns energy generation assets in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa’s only privately owned coal-fired power station, Kelvin Power Station. CIVH, on the other hand, owns brands such as Vumatel, VumaCam, and Dark Fibre Africa.
Zungu added that the investment into the Harith Infraco consortium meant that Zungu Investments was now co-owner of energy, fibre, and infrastructure assets in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria & Kenya.
“This investment in energy and fibre infrastructure will create much-needed critical socio-economic benefits and reduce the digital divide, which is one of the major barriers to Africa’s digital advancement,” explained Zungu.
Zungu Investments also completed an investment into the alcoholic beverage platform, Vasari, which owns KWV in South Africa, Dashen – the third largest brewery in Ethiopia, and the third largest Ethiopian distillery, Rorank. This investment will help the two companies to respond to the good growth that the African spirits and beer market is experiencing.
The investment holding company also made headway in the European real estate industry through its investment into RN3, a European real estate private equity firm domiciled in Luxembourg with offices in London, United Kingdom. Zungu Investments concluded an investment directly into RN3 and its property in Manchester, which is a logistics hub of over 92,000m².
During the year in question, Zungu Investments also invested in KLT, an American and European Private Equity Fund domiciled in Luxembourg. With offices in Cape Town and London, KLT’s largest assets are in the United States. These assets include Fibre and Data Centres.
Back home (in South Africa), Zungu Investments also completed key commercial real estate through Zungu Properties. This entity acquired the 100,000m² Unilever warehouse in the Gauteng Province and the 43,000m² Takealot warehouse in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The latter comes with land that can be developed into a further 20,000m² of warehouse space. In addition to the two warehouse properties, the entity acquired four office properties in Pretoria and Gauteng.
The year, 2024, also saw the investment holding company realise its investment into the South African pharmacy group, Dis-Chem, through an innovative structure, deferring tax and providing upside to the share price over the next five years.
Zungu Investments also structured the buy-back of R120m of ordinary shares. Zungu Investments Company Holdings is the only ordinary shareholder.
“As Chairman and Founder, I am pleased with what we achieved in 2024 and confident that we are going to expand our investment footprint to other sectors and countries. Our goal is to establish ourselves as a major player in the continent and globally by identifying and investing in strategic assets,” Zungu concluded.