John Mangudya, CEO of the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), said that ZESA Holdings had productive talks with Indian firm Jindal Africa Investments over a US$350 million joint venture.
Mangudya told the <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/local-news/article/200037346/hwange-power-rehab-talks-successful">Independent</a> that the Jindal Africa Investments team recently visited Zimbabwe.
The partnership aims to refurbish six units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station. Said Mangudya:
<blockquote>
Yes, the team from Jindal was in the country to finalise on the rehabilitation agreement of Hwange Units 1 to 6 with ZESA. The meetings were successful.
</blockquote>
The Independent reported sources as saying that the team met with MIF, power utility ZESA, and the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA).
In 2024, MIF approved the joint venture deal, which will be implemented under a rehabilitate, operate, and transfer (ROT) framework.
This investment is expected to add approximately 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Zimbabwe’s national grid, offering some relief as the country continues to grapple with severe power shortages.
In 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned Hwange Power Station’s Units 7 and 8, adding 600MW to the national grid. This project, undertaken by Chinese firm Sinohydro, cost US$1.5 billion.

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An Indian company called Jindal Africa Investments will work with Zimbabwe's ZESA to fix six units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station. The CEO of Mutapa Investment Fund, John Mangudya, says the talks were successful. This joint venture will cost US$350 million. It is expected to add 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Zimbabwe's power grid. This will help with the country's severe power shortages. In 2023, Chinese company Sinohydro also added 600MW to the grid at Hwange Power Station.

US$350M Hwange Power Station Refurbishment Talks "Successful" - Mangudya

Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti says the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), previously known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe, has been used to covertly privatize the country’s most important parastatals.
The MIF is a state-owned investment fund established to manage and invest surplus funds generated from Zimbabwe’s natural resources.
Created through the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in 2014, it was renamed in 2023 via Statutory Instrument 156.
The fund manages assets from various state-owned enterprises, including NetOne, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe, TelOne, and others.
Biti criticized the “privatization” of these parastatals, saying it was carried out without proper valuations or parliamentary oversight. Below are Biti’s comments on the MIF:
<blockquote>
The Mutapa Fund has essentially been a back door privatization of 40 or so of the country’s biggest and most important parastatals that include Hwange, NRZ, IDC and NetOne.
The process was done without individual valuations of the different parastatals and parliamentary scrutiny.
The Mutapa Fund now controls a huge chunk of the country’s balance sheet and yet it is not accountable to Parliament or a line ministry.
It is a huge Asset Management Fund, privately controlled, yet it houses State Assets. This kind of arbitrage and theft is a national threat.
The repeal of section 22 of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act which prevents the Mutapa Fund from securitising the shares of parastatals it now controls is proof of arbitrage on steroids.
This regime has no limits, nor elasticity, no shame. The Mutapa Fund and those who control it are a national threat to the country’s sovereignty.
A country can’t be run on the philosophy and polity of looting for the sake of looting. The class of 2017 is a cabal, a ruthless brood whose only interest is to loot Zimbabwe dry. Self-respecting decent wananchi should say NO.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti says the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) was used to secretly sell important state-owned companies in Zimbabwe. The fund was created in 2014 to manage money from natural resources, but it now controls assets like NetOne, National Railways of Zimbabwe, and Air Zimbabwe. Biti criticized this sale, saying it was done without proper checks. He called the fund a threat to the country's independence and accused the people in charge of only wanting to steal from Zimbabwe. This needs to stop, according to Biti.

Biti Says Mutapa Fund Used For Secretive Privatisation Of Parastatals

Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund, the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), manages assets valued at US$16 billion, according to CEO John Mangudya.
According to the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, which monitors such funds globally, Ethiopian Investment Holdings is Africa’s largest sovereign wealth fund, with assets under management of US$150 billion.
The Ethiopian fund holds over 30 state companies, including flagship enterprises such as Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio Telecom.
In an interview with <a href="https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/mutapa-assets-valued-at-us16bn">The Sunday Mail</a>, Mangudya said that MIF completed a “comprehensive diagnostic assessment” of its portfolio which established that as of the end of June 2024, the market value of the assets managed by the fund stood at US$16 billion. He said:
<blockquote>
The Mutapa Investment Fund 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.
</blockquote>
The Mutapa Investment Fund holds state-owned interests across various sectors, including mining, agriculture, ICT, transport, banking, real estate, energy, and trading.
Companies under the Mutapa umbrella include the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe, TelOne, Cottco, and Defold Mine, which now oversees mining assets previously managed by the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.
MIF controls key entities such as the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, Petrotrade, POSB, ZESA, Fidelity (the country’s sole gold refinery), the Zimbabwe Power Company, PowerTel, Allied Timbers, Telecel, and Hwange Colliery.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

The Mutapa Investment Fund in Zimbabwe has assets worth $16 billion, with interests in mining, agriculture, ICT, and more. This makes MIF one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in Africa. The fund oversees companies like National Railways, Air Zimbabwe, and TelOne. John Mangudya, the CEO, said that MIF has analyzed its portfolio and grouped companies for better management. Some of the key entities under MIF are the National Oil Company, ZESA, and Telecel. Ethiopian Investment Holdings is Africa's largest sovereign wealth fund with assets worth $150 billion.

Mutapa Investment Fund Assets Valued At US$16 Billion - Mangudya

The Mutapa Investment Fund has received a 2023 dividend of ZiG31 million (US$2.2 million) from the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC), one of over 20 state-owned companies that the sovereign wealth fund now runs.
NOIC is responsible for pipeline transportation of petroleum products and storage in strategic depots across the country and also offers blending services on behalf of clients at its depots.
According to <a href="https://newzwire.live/mutapa-gets-us2-2m-dividend-from-oil-infrastructure-company-noic/">newZWire</a>, the dividend adds to the US$1 million dividend that NOIC declared for 2022. Simba Chinyemba, chief investment officer at Mutapa, said:
<blockquote>
The dividend is a commendable thing. There are also various projects that NOIC is doing, chief of which is increasing the capacity of the oil pipeline capacity.
</blockquote>
According to NOIC CEO Wilfred Matukeni, the project will see the pipeline from Feruka adding capacity from 2 billion litres per year to 3 billion litres by September. A second phase which will increase capacity to 5 billion litres.
NOIC makes its money by charging importers for using the pipeline and its storage facilities.
In November 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned a six million litre ethanol storage and handling facility at NOIC in Mabvuku, Harare.
Mnangagwa said that the two ethanol storage and handling facilities were installed with a capacity of three million litres each.
NOIC is also building 2 000-metric-tonne LPG storage facilities.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

The Mutapa Investment Fund got $2.2 million from the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe as a dividend. NOIC is in charge of transporting petroleum products through pipelines and storing them in depots. They also offer blending services. The money comes from import fees for using their facilities. They are increasing their pipeline capacity from 2 billion to 3 billion liters by September, and then to 5 billion liters later. President Mnangagwa recently opened an ethanol storage facility at NOIC. NOIC is also working on building LPG storage facilities.

Mutapa Investment Fund Gets US$2.2 Million Dividend From NOIC

Zimbabwe’s new sovereign wealth fund, the Mutapa Investment Fund, reportedly paid a “grossly inflated” US$1.6 billion, which is 5 per cent of GDP, for shares in Kuvimba Mining House.
According to the latest The Sentry report, the secretive payment of US$1.6 billion was made to unknown private individuals to buy their shares in the mining conglomerate with recent links to Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a presidential adviser and ZANU PF donor.
The Sentry is a US-based investigative organisation that tracks corruption.
In a report published on Wednesday, The Sentry said US$1.6 billion in public debt was used by the Mutapa Investment Fund (formerly known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe), to purchase shares in Kuvimba, which owns about a dozen gold, lithium, nickel and platinum mines. It said:
<blockquote>
The Sentry’s analysis suggests that Mutapa paid a grossly inflated price for the shares.
</blockquote>
The report stated that until recently, the state had owned 65% of Kuvimba and private investors had held 35% of the shares. Said The Sentry report:
<blockquote>
A $1.6-billion price tag for a 35% stake would value Kuvimba at US$4.6 billion overall — triple the $1.5-billion valuation given to Kuvimba by the government in 2022. This would raise serious questions about whether Mutapa has grossly overvalued the shares.
A $4.6-billion valuation would also be much more than the amount that Tagwirei’s firms spent in 2019 on acquiring the mines before they transferred the assets to Kuvimba in 2020.
</blockquote>
Rising gold prices since 2020 might explain some of the increase in Kuvimba’s value. Said The Sentry:
<blockquote>
However, a $4.6-billion valuation seems distinctly frothy given that Kuvimba’s other mines have had mixed fortunes: Declining lithium prices have caused stockpiling, and the firm’s platinum and nickel projects are either inactive or loss-making.
</blockquote>
Tagwirei has denied links to Kuvimba, but previous reports have linked him to the mining conglomerate. Said The Sentry report:
<blockquote>
In 2021, The Sentry revealed how Tagwirei was a secret owner of up to 35% of Kuvimba. Tagwirei and Kuvimba deny he owns the shares, but authorities refuse to identify who received the US$1.6 billion payment for the 35% stake.
</blockquote>
The secretive payment of US$1.6 billion to undisclosed private individuals poses a threat to Zimbabwe’s debt restructuring negotiations, exacerbating the country’s liabilities.
Zimbabwe currently faces debt distress, impeding its ability to secure affordable loans from development banks due to previous defaults and significant arrears.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is actively guiding Zimbabwe and its creditors toward a structured debt restructuring process.
According to The Sentry report, lenders may find little reassurance in the fact that Zimbabwe’s debt has surged to $21 billion, especially considering that new debt equivalent to 5% of GDP seems to have been issued to compensate shareholders in Kuvimba, potentially linked to a politically connected businessman. It said:
<blockquote>
The point of sovereign wealth funds is to preserve and grow wealth to benefit Zimbabwean citizens. If the report of $1.6 billion paid to Kuvimba’s private investors is true, Zimbabwean taxpayers — who will have to repay this debt — should be angry that one of the first acts of their new sovereign wealth fund may have been to allocate wealth from the many to the few.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

US$1.6 Billion Paid To Mystery Shareholders By Mutapa Investment Fund

Human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga has described the Mutapa Investment Fund as the greatest national heist since Cecil John Rhodes.
Rhodes was a South African-based British imperialist who worked with a missionary John Moffat in 1888/89 to trick King Lobengula into signing away his kingdom to his company, the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which eventually resulted in the annexation of Zimbabwe.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently invoked his Presidential Powers to rename the Sovereign Wealth Fund to the Mutapa Investment Fund and transfer the shares in State-owned enterprises to the new fund.
In a post on X, Malunga said the Mutapa Investment Fund will result in the privatisation of public wealth and resources in Zimbabwe. He wrote:
<blockquote>
The unconstitutional Mutapa Investment Fund in Zimbabwe is not a Sovereign Wealth Fund but an untransparent, unaccountable, personalised funnel for appropriation and privatisation of Zimbabwe’s entire public wealth and resources and the greatest national heist since Cecil John Rhodes.
</blockquote>
In an article published by <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/mutapa-investment-fund-a-vehicle-for-looting-while-avoiding-scrutiny/">ZimLive</a>, Mt Pleasant MP Fadzayi Mahere (CCC), said the establishment of the Mutapa Investment Fund signals “a new era of predatory looting of state assets and natural resources by Mnangagwa and the illegal ‘Mutapa Mafia'” which Mnangagwa “will personally appoint”. Added Mahere:
<blockquote>
Zimbabwe, a country reeling under 49 percent extreme poverty, triple-digit hyperinflation and an annual loss of US$2.2 billion to illicit financial flows cannot afford for its resources to bleed further.
It behooves all institutions of the state with a mandate to oversee corruption and poor public management including the auditor general, parliament, the judiciary, the media and the general citizenry to speak out against this illegal conduct and ensure that this latest unconstitutional enactment is reversed.
If this is not done, billions in state resources will be lost once again without any accountability or disclosure.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

"Mutapa Investment Fund The Greatest National Heist Since Cecil John Rhodes"

The Government has rejected claims that all Government parastatals under the recently promulgated Mutapa Investment Fund will not be subject to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPDPA).
Addressing delegates during the Zimbabwe Economic Development Conference (ZEDCON 2023) in Victoria Falls on Monday, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion permanent secretary George Guvamatanga said the entities have not been exempted from public procurement regulations. He said:
<blockquote>
They (entities) have not been exempted. To be clear, in terms of the law, the exemption applies to the fund and not any other entities listed.
All this noise of all institutions being exempted is not correct. The fund needs to be quick, cost effect and it was important to place it at par with its peers.
</blockquote>
Guvamatanga said the fund is wholly owned by the Government and it (the Government) is the beneficiary of the fund.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently invoked his Presidential Powers to rename the Sovereign Wealth Fund to the Mutapa Investment Fund and transfer the shares in the 20 State-owned enterprises to the new fund.
The companies whose government shares will now fall under the Mutapa Investment Fund are:
<ul>
<li>Defold Mine</li>
<li>ZUPCO</li>
<li>Kuvimba</li>
<li>Silo Investments (GMB commercial arm)</li>
<li>National Oil Company of Zimbabwe</li>
<li>Cold Storage Commission</li>
<li>Petrotrade</li>
<li>POSB</li>
<li>Netone Cellular</li>
<li>National Railways of Zimbabwe Holdings and NRZ Ltd</li>
<li>TelOne</li>
<li>Arda Seeds</li>
<li>Zimbabwe Power Company</li>
<li>Powertel</li>
<li>Allied Timbers</li>
<li>Telecel Zimbabwe</li>
<li>Air Zimbabwe</li>
<li>Industrial Development Corporation</li>
<li>Cottco</li>
<li>AFC Limited</li>
<li>Hwange Colliery</li>
</ul>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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