Dr John Mangudya
“The fund appointed reputable accounting firms to conduct the valuation of assets under the management of the fund. The exercise has been completed and the market value of assets under the management of the fund is equivalent to US$16 billion, as at the end of June 2024.”
THE Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) has been able to undertake a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of all the portfolio companies under its ambit over the past five months.
On the basis of the assessment, the fund came up with six clusters of these entities for ease of management and for tracking performance.
The clusters are: mineral or mining resources; agriculture and industrials; information and communication technology (ICT), transport and logistics; financial services; real estate; and energy and trading.
The fund has also put in place skilled and competent staff to execute its mandate of enhancing the financial and operational performance of the portfolio companies that it is managing.
The fund is, therefore, up to the task to transform its investee companies for the betterment of the country and the Zimbabwean citizens.
Asset evaluation
The fund appointed reputable accounting firms to conduct the valuation of assets under the management of the fund. The exercise has been completed and the market value of assets under the management of the fund is equivalent to US$16 billion, as at the end of June 2024.
The fund’s board of directors has put in place a robust governance structure and board committees to ensure transparency in the operations of the fund and the valuation of its assets.
It is essential for the fund to know the value of assets that it is managing and to provide vital market information to the Zimbabwean citizens and investors.
The assets under the fund management are part of the gross domestic product of the country and would need to be transparently and accurately accounted for and managed by the fund.
National Railways of Zimbabwe
The rehabilitation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is an ongoing process, from infrastructure to rolling stock. A number of initiatives are being pursued by NRZ and the fund with a number of possible financiers that include China and India.
NRZ is a critical enabler in the economy for enhancing competitiveness and bulky movement of goods not only for Zimbabwe but also as a regional transport hub.
Rehabilitation of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock is, therefore, critical to improving the railway transport system and ensuring that Zimbabwe does not become a railway system bottleneck in the sub-region due to ageing equipment.
Zesa
Initiatives to expand the generation of electricity that range from net metering to the implementation of independent power producer (IPP) projects are ongoing.
The expected outcome from these initiatives is an improvement in the supply of energy, which is a critical enabler of the economy. We are confident that the projects being implemented by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) will improve energy supply in the country.
Air Zimbabwe recapitalisation
The fund is working with Air Zimbabwe to improve on its delivery of services to its clients by increasing the number and frequency of flights on domestic, regional and international routes.
This is being achieved by working on a number of initiatives that include leasing, code-sharing and attending to refurbishment of some of the equipment.
All things being equal, and taking account of work done to date, we expect Air Zimbabwe to start to increase the frequency of regional and international flights before year-end.
Fidelity Gold Refinery
Fidelity Gold Refinery has embarked on an aggressive programme to formalise and enhance gold production in Zimbabwe, particularly regarding artisanal gold producers, by increasing the number of gold buying and gold service centres.
These centres are necessary to increase gold deliveries to Fidelity, which, in turn, is important in supporting our local currency, Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG).
Diversifying the investment portfolio
The fund is diversifying its investment portfolio through a number of programmes. They include entering into joint ventures with renowned international investors to exploit the assets under the ambit of the fund. This is essential to increase production, productivity, employment, value and wealth from the fund’s portfolio.
Global economic downturn
The fund is addressing the global economic challenges by leveraging its rich and diversified balance sheet to improve the financial performance of its portfolio companies.
The fund’s long-term goal is to be a formidable sovereign wealth fund pivoted on excellence in terms of financial performance and good corporate governance in order to deliver on its vision to ensure a brighter financial future for Zimbabwe.
We are, first and foremost, compelled to adhere to Section 195 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which requires State-controlled commercial entities to conduct their operations in a manner that maintains commercial viability and abide by generally accepted standards of good corporate governance and adherence to open, transparent and competitive procurement systems.
The fund also subscribes to the Santiago Principles for sovereign investments that are designed to promote good governance, accountability, transparency and prudent investment practices.
Guided by these best practices and requirements, the fund will adhere to a high level of transparency and good corporate governance. The fund shall be audited by reputable independent auditors and shall comply with relevant national statutes that include the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Debt Management Act.
Dr John Mangudya is the chief executive officer of the Mutapa Investment Fund. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.
