MUTAPA Investment Fund (MIF) has contributed US$5 million investment needed for the lucrative Invictus Energy Muzarabani project.

The project is on the verge of establishing Zimbabwe as a key player in the oil and gas industry following confirmation of the presence of natural gas and oil condensate from samples tested at a laboratory in the United States.

The tests also proved the oil discovered falls into the light oil classification which produces diesel, petrol as well as Jet A1.

In a market update, Invictus is set to float 151,515,152 shares worth US$10 million in a private placement out of which Mutapa will underwrite US$5 million of the share issue while a private equity fund, Mangwana Capital will inject another US$5 million to acquire the total shares on offer.

Subsequently, MIF will then represent the government's stake in the gas project on the back of yet another ongoing discussion on a Petroleum Production Sharing Agreement outlining how dividends will be spread between the concern and the government.

MIF will be granted a 10% back-in-right within six months of a final investment decision being made to go ahead with any commercial development. A back-in-right contract allows the government to take shares in the operation.

Invictus Energy MD Scott Macmillan has also tabled plans to list on the Victoria Falls Exchange (VFEX) in a bid to offer locals an opportunity to tap into the potential embedded in the project.

"The secondary listing on VFEX will facilitate liquidity for the local demand that exists in Zimbabwe. There's never been an opportunity like this for local Zimbabweans to invest in our company, and now, through our secondary listing, there is," he said.

MIF, formerly known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe was promulgated in 2015 by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act.

It was later renamed the MIF after the re-election of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa as the president of Zimbabwe, doing so by using Statutory Instrument 156 of 2023, bringing around 29 State Owned Enterprises under its control.

Its main task is to ignite life into several ailing firms under its purview as well as create a locally controlled capital base which will in turn spur economic growth and contribute towards citizens' long-term welfare.