Wanetsha Mosinyi
3 July 2009
Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE)- listed financial services group Imara, is set to excite the market as it launches an investment fund focusing on African resources, that will target international investors and fund managers.
"The new fund is a renewed expression of long-term confidence in Africa as an important investment destination," Imara chief executive Mark Tunmer said in a statement yesterday.
The Imara African Resources Fund (IARF) was seeded six months ago by Imara executives and has positions in companies with underlying assets in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania, Ghana, Mali and several other African countries.
Its strategy is to target small-to-medium-sized mining and other companies that can fall below the radar of large international funds that tend to allocate resources towards the major resource companies.
The fund, which will be registered offshore and dollar-denominated, will be managed by Bruce Williamson, an industry professional with 25 years' experience as a mining analyst and a deep-level mining background with Gold Fields Ltd.
"We are now looking at greater variety and stronger exposure to exciting opportunities in West Africa and countries such as Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia," Williamson said. "The big, long-term upside is among juniors and mid-tier miners."Tunmer said the timing is ideal after the worst economic global downturn in recent history.
"Commodity markets corrected sharply downwards in 2008, but in the first half of this year we have seen a strong rebound. This is not a temporary phenomenon. The long-term fundamentals are strongly positive," he said.
The fund's current mix of commodities includes gold, platinum group metals, coal, ferrous metals, chrome oil and gas, Imara said.Imara runs several regionally-tailored investment funds the Imara Zimbabwe Fund, the Imara Nigeria Fund and the Imara East Africa Fund.
It also offers an African Opportunities Fund that takes long-only equity positions in a range of countries and sectors.
The African Resource Fund is registered in the British Virgin Islands and denominated in US dollars. The minimum investment is $100,000.
Imara is renowned for its knowledge of African markets and its funds under management exceed US$ 135 million and funds under administration US$ 750 million.
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