Bard Santner eyes regional growth after talks with Mauritius President Gokhool

Bard Santner eyes regional growth after talks with Mauritius President Gokhool

Bard Santner, headquartered in Harare, with offices in Johannesburg and New York, provides financial intermediary, asset management, corporate finance, wealth management and treasury management services.

A high-profile Bard Santner Inc. delegation led by board chairperson Vinod Bussawah, alongside chief executive Senziwani Sikhosana and other directors, met Mauritius President Dharambeer Gokhool at State House in Port Louis to strengthen business networks at the highest level and explore investment opportunities in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Apart from Bussawah and Sikhosana, the delegation included senior executives Tatenda Hungwe, Lucia Chingwaru and Ngonidzashe Chikowore.

The strategic meeting focused on cross-border financial services, investment management and new regional partnerships, reinforcing Mauritius' position as a key gateway for investment into Africa while advancing Bard Santner's ambition to become a regional financial services powerhouse.

Bard Santner, headquartered in Harare, with offices in Johannesburg and New York, provides financial intermediary, asset management, corporate finance, wealth management and treasury management services.

The company counts several Mauritian nationals among its directors, including its chairperson, and aims to expand its presence in Mauritius, one of Africa's leading financial hubs.

Recently, Bard Santner facilitated local investors' participation in the historic $1.6 billion Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.

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Located in Lekki, Lagos, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, owned by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, is the world's largest single-train oil refinery, with its nameplate capacity re-rated to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) and a roadmap to reach 1.4 million bpd by 2029.

The primary objective of the $1.6 billion "People's IPO" is to fund a major expansion programme that will increase the refinery's processing capacity from about 700,000 bpd to 1.4 million bpd by 2029.

In November last year, Bard Santner brought Dangote, whose group operates in 16 African countries, to Harare to explore investments of more than US$1 billion in Zimbabwe through an integrated cement manufacturing, limestone and coal mining, power generation, and infrastructure complex. The investment could rise to US$2 billion if plans for an oil pipeline from Namibia to Zimbabwe through Botswana materialise.

Bard Santner also recently secured a microfinance bank licence from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to launch a diaspora-focused institution targeting the multi-billion-dollar remittance market driven by millions of Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa, Botswana, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, among other countries.

Last week, Bard Santner Bank unveiled a 13-member board of directors comprising former executives from global institutions such as HSBC, KPMG and PwC.

The core strategic focus of the Mauritius visit included:

Confirming the meeting, Gokhool's social media platforms said: "President Gokhool welcomed a delegation from the Bard Santner Group, Zimbabwe, for a courtesy visit yesterday (Wednesday).

Led by Chairman Vinod Khooshiramsing Bussawah, the delegation comprised Senziwani Sikhosana, Chief Executive; Tatenda Hungwe, Managing Director; Lucia Chingwaru, Executive Director; and Ngonidzashe Chikowore, Managing Director of Bard Santner Microfinance Bank.

Discussions explored investment management, cross-border financial services and collaboration with Mauritian stakeholders, highlighting Mauritius' role as a strategic gateway for investment into Africa.

President Gokhool also received Rajah Ramdaursingh, Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Development Board (EDB) Mauritius, at State House this week.

Discussions focused on the EDB's role in promoting local and foreign investment, facilitating business opportunities and strengthening Mauritius' position as an attractive investment destination and a gateway to regional and international markets.

Zimbabwe is seeking to emulate Mauritius by developing the Victoria Falls International Financial Services Centre along the lines of the Mauritius International Financial Centre.

By transforming the country's premier resort town into a special offshore economic zone, Zimbabwe aims to establish a tax-efficient international gateway for banking, regional and global investment, capital flows, hard-currency transactions and tourism, similar to Mauritius.