The Sunday Mail
Mr John Swanepoel
As the chief executive of South African company Rostrum Trading Platform, I have been smitten by the Zimbabwe Government policies since the coming in of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
My company is keen to invest in a number of projects here, hence our coming for the Mining Investment Conference (in Harare last week).
We focus on the development of mines from brownfields through to beneficiation.
Our business has mainly been in South Africa with our mineral interests in North West province where we have been involved in the mining and full beneficiation of chrome over the past 15 years. We have also been involved in manganese, chrome ore, gold and iron ore.
In Zimbabwe, we are looking at investing in the areas of chrome, lithium, limestone and gold. There are huge opportunities in these sectors and we would like to play our part in investing in Zimbabwe.
I am so excited to be in Zimbabwe and I can proudly say that Zimbabwe is now the New Africa.
My hope is that in the coming years, your country can be Africa’s Dubai in terms of attracting the global capital.
As a businessman, you have at times to work with your natural instinct.
My natural instinct right now tells me that I have to invest money in Zimbabwe. There is a feel-good vibe about Zimbabwe right now and it has definitely caught up with me.
I want to applaud Government for doing the right things and sending the right messages that the country is open for business.
I first caught this feel-good vibe last year, soon after the new dispensation came in.
All eyes were on Zimbabwe and coming from just across the border in South Africa, I could not help but take interest.
It was clear that Zimbabwe was ready for change.
This meant that Government also had to do certain things to bring businesspeople to the country.
When I saw your President at Davos, I was impressed by his message and the sincerity of his statements.
I liked the pace at which he instituted changes, such as the immediate repealing of the indigenisation laws and the ease of business reforms.
It was clear that the new Government knows the potential of Zimbabwe and they have taken the initiative to release that potential to the rest of the world.
I have also been impressed by the welcome from the Zimbabwe Investment Authority.
It has been easy to measure the success that your Government has achieved because you started from zero, and to date so much investment commitments have been made.
When Vice-President Chiwenga made his speech at the Mining Investment Conference, you could tell that this is a man who means business and who is clear in what he wants for the country.
I was happy that he carried the same message that President Mnangagwa has been carrying.
This consistency is what we need as business and it is different from the past when we use to hear different messages coming from the Zimbabwean Government officials.
My humble opinion, after having been coming in and out of Zimbabwe in the past three months, is that there is no country in Africa at the moment which has a better environment for investors.
Our company now has a plan to raise capital from markets such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Our initial investment that we have made available to kick-start so far is to the tune of about US$3 million. But this is just the start and with time we are hoping to invest more.
Our vision is to raise up to US$1 billion from these markets, if we are afforded the opportunities which are worth that amount.
The US$3 million that I have spoken about is ready and we have already set a management team that is in place. They are doing the groundwork.
Our strategy is to start our investment in exploration then we will go to the next level based on the feasibility studies.
I was able to set up a company here in quick time and I am very impressed, particularly with the gold sector.
We have signed up a number of chrome claims, but these are just a start and we are going to be doing more. You are definitely going to hear more about this company.
According to what I have seen, Zimbabwe can get to up to 100 tonnes of gold (per year), because your country has the resource.
I am willing to share my positive experiences in Zimbabwe and advise any other investors out there that indeed Zimbabwe is open for business.
Our business is already up and running in Zimbabwe and I have every confidence that we will do well.
I know that the challenge has been on how to get our money out of the country as investors, but the authorities have given us their assurances on this and I have taken their word.
God bless Zimbabwe
Mr John Swanepoel is president and CEO of Rostrum Trading Platform. He spoke to The Sunday Mail’s Chief Reporter Kuda Bwititi at the Mining Investment Conference in Harare last week
