Economy
Cap Tamarin Secures $10m Funding Package from Vantage Capital
By Dipo Olowookere
A Mauritian-based diversified real-estate, hospitality, education and agricultural group, Cap Tamarin Ltée, has secured $10 million of mezzanine funding from Vantage Capital.
It was gathered that the promoter of the transaction was Trimetys through its subsidiary, Cap Tamarin Ltée, led by Kian Jhuboo and Georges Talbotier.
Vantage Capital is Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager.
Cap Tamarin, since their first real estate project in 1998, has developed a variety of different projects on the island which include hotels, sport centres, a shopping centre and a school as well as constructing more than 300 residential units.
Cap Tamarin will create an integrated “work, live and play” environment that is technology-focused, intelligent, innovative and sustainable. Cap Tamarin has already received the prized Smart City Scheme certification from the Mauritian government. On completion, the Cap Tamarin development will span over 400,000m2 and will comprise of residential units made up of a combination of apartments, senior homes (non-medicalised and medicalised), villas and individual houses. A key attraction for Cap Tamarin residents will be a 40,000m2 landscaped park facilitating direct access to the Tamarin Beach and lagoon. Cap Tamarin will benefit from a comprehensive range of public services such as schools, a smart citizen advice office, a post office as well as cultural and innovation centres. The innovation centre will be used by start-ups, SMEs and research-based organisations to stimulate innovative activities which are a core component of the Smart City Scheme. The development will also expand on the existing commercial office and retail spaces.
Warren van der Merwe, Chief Operating Officer of Vantage Capital, said, “Vantage Capital is excited to partner with Trimetys to make our first Mauritian investment in a mixed-use development in a prime coastal location that manages to combine an aspirational island village lifestyle with a strong developmental impact on surrounding communities.”
Zaheer Cassim, Associate Partner at Vantage Capital, added, “Tamarin is an old fishing village that is to be transformed in an environmentally-sensitive manner into a well-planned residential area on the picturesque west coast of Mauritius. The village is surrounded by hills in the east and the beach on the west with the Tamarin River running through it and represents an ideal location for a development of this nature.”
Georges Talbotier, Director of Cap Tamarin, declared “This partnership rewards the achievement of several milestones in Cap Tamarin’s development plan. Supplemented by bank financing and sales, the entry of Vantage Capital as a reference investor, will boost the realization of the project.” He adds, “We need strong partners to achieve such an ambitious project. For us, Cap Tamarin “Smart & Happy Village” is the realization of a vision and we thank Vantage Capital for sharing our values. “
The investment is Vantage Capital’s eighth transaction in Fund III, a $280 million fund, with a 55% allocation to countries outside South Africa. This investment represents the 26th transaction executed by Vantage across three generations of mezzanine funds.
Werksmans Attorneys and BLC Roberts & Associates acted as legal counsel to Vantage in South Africa and Mauritius respectively. Cap Tamarin and Trimetys were advised by Mauritius Commercial Bank’s Capital Markets division.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
