Nigel Chanakira ventures into private equity

Published: 16 December 2013

KINGDOM Bank founder and entrepreneur, Mr Nigel Chanakira, has set his sights on venturing into private equity following his decision to sell his 33 percent stake at the commercial bank.

Mr Chanakira said he reached the decision to dispose his shares at Kingdom Bank four months ago in light of the impending failure to comply with regulatory requirements of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

"I decided to leave Kingdom Bank because we were being challenged in terms of non-performing loans and I felt it was time to pass the baton. I have sold the shares to a credible partner AfrAsia Kingdom Holdings Limited (Ltd) because I discovered that it was not worth it staying there," he said.

Mr Chanakira sold the remaining 33 percent of his stake in Kingdom Bank which was owned through his investment vehicle Crustmoon Investments Private Ltd.

He established Kingdom as a securities firm in 1994 and went on to become one of the few leading and financially sound institutions.

"I will be venturing into private equity because people are looking for capital to start new ventures and I saw the gap in the market but on a very selective basis.

"I also have some projects and green fields that I will be starting in the new year and I will be raising more capital for that purpose," Mr Chanakira said.

Private equity is a source of investment capital from high net worth individuals and institutions for the purpose of investing and acquiring equity ownership in companies. Partners at private-equity firms raise funds and manage these funds to yield favourable returns for their shareholder clients, typically with an investment horizon between four and seven years.

"I also have some projects and green fields that I will be starting in the new year and I will be raising more capital for that purpose," he said.

The renowned banker is, however, still holding fort at his Botswana financial institution Kingdom Bank Africa Limited, which focuses on private, offshore and investment banking and envisages growth with opportunities in Southern Africa to do private equity deals.

"I am also doing mentorship through Success Motivation Institute because there is need for more mentors than banks. Next year we are launching an application software and it's going to be an app that gives financial literacy to people. They can use it for making bank applications. We have tested it and we have done the pilot stage and we are ready to go," Mr Chanakira said.
- Sunday News