Business
Phuti Mahanyele and Shanduka Group- Catering to Africa’s Middle Class
Meanwhile Glencore, which also has many investments across the continent, said: “We look forward to further growing the Shanduka coal business.”
But if Shanduka is to make inroads north, it will need to transform itself from a South African deal broker to an emerging-market pioneer.
Founded by Cyril Ramaphosa, a onetime presidential hopeful turned businessman, Shanduka was formed in 2001 as a black-owned investment holding company with stakes in local banks and telecommunication companies. It parlayed those investment stakes into more management involvement that spanned companies in resources, food and beverages.
“Black Economic Empowerment has been a catalyst for us. But as we move forward it’s our track record, our management capability and skills, that have to drive us forward,” Ms. Mahanyele says, speaking in Shanduka’s offices tucked in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton. “We cannot forever be relying on Black Economic Empowerment. At some point you have to stand on your own two feet.” She didn’t specify countries where the company seeks to expand, but said Shanduka already has investments in Nigeria, Mozambique, Mauritius and Ghana.
Ms. Mahanyele joined Shanduka to run the energy division when the company was just three years old. She was appointed chief executive two years ago, joining a small but growing group of black South African women at the top.
Previously, she worked for Fieldstone in New York and South Africa, an international boutique investment firm that focuses on energy companies. From there, she moved on to the Development Bank of Southern Africa, financing infrastructure projects. She has overseen Shanduka’s partnerships with companies investing in Mozambique and South Africa.
While the company works to further expand north, Ms. Mahanyele is also getting heavily involved in South Africa’s mines. Talk of nationalization has scared away many foreign investors from its resources sector, but Ms. Mahanyele has been powering ahead, snapping up mines that are, she says, undervalued.
