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Imara launches info blitz to bring investors to Africa
September 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Imara, the Pan-African financial services group, is launching an information onslaught to pave the way for a new wave of international investment into Africa.
The latest salvo in the group’s info barrage is an authoritative, up-to-the-minute report on the state of the sugar industry in South Africa and other jurisdictions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – the first appraisal of its kind.
Data is targeted at South African, European and North American institutions, asset managers and professional investors.
Imara’s sugar industry and sugar company assessment follows its comprehensive overview investment prospects in Angola and a notional valuation of the planned Angolan stock market.
The Botswana-registered group began its data drive earlier this year with another first – a comprehensive report on the financial service sector in SSA, with information on listed banks from Egypt to South Africa. The book, ‘Banking on the Final Frontier’ proved a huge hit with investment analysts worldwide.
Imara Group CEO Mark Tunmer commented: “We’ve always been known for the quality of our research – a direct result of our strong on-the-ground presence across Africa. As part of our service to investors we circulate reports from Imara asset managers working on various Africa-focused equity funds.
“We decided to give more formal structure to this research effort by compiling authoritative reports on national markets and key sectors.
“The success of our banking book was an eye-opener. We decided to maintain momentum by creating a continuing stream of authoritative reports. We knew there was great international appetite for reliable, up-to-the-minute data on African countries. That appetite may be even stronger than we first thought.”
Imara is committed to the facilitation of investment into Africa and in the last 15 months has twice brought international fund managers to Harare for on-the-spot assessments of Zimbabwean opportunities. It frequently collaborates with officials from various SSA countries to give in-depth briefings to investors in major centres such as London.
Tunmer adds: “We plan to publish an ongoing series of investment books and reports on a wide range of national markets, key sectors and listed companies.
“Once the base is established, we will look at six-monthly updates. We also plan to produce national editions of sectoral reports that will put the spotlight on a particular jurisdiction.”