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South Africa’s Women Investment Firm Rides Black Empowerment Program

South Africa’s Women Investment Firm Rides Black Empowerment Program

As the black empowerment program took centre stage in South Africa in Early 1990’s, a group of women from the country were also coming together to create their own investment vehicle, the Women’s Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited (WIPHOLD). The investment company, which is fully owned by black South African women, was created to benefit over 200,000 women by mainly focusing its investment in mining, infrastructure and financial sectors of the economy.

From an initial Capital of just $50,000 Wiphold has grown it asset value to more than $200 million with stakes in Old Mutual, Nedbank, Sasol Mining and others. The investment group is now looking too become a fully operating company with deals to build a new cement plant in partnership with a Chinese firm and venturing into coal mining in partnership with Sasol Mining.

On one hand women new that they had been excluded … so they were excited (about the Wiphold opportunity). But on the other hand they could not quite believe that it could be done,” Gloria Serobe, founder and CEO at Wiphold Investment told CCTV Africa