The discovery of massive diamond reserves in Eastern Zimbabwe has created an economic windfall which should be managed properly for future generations to benefit. Zimbabwe has various other resources including Gold, Coal and platinum which is believed to be the second largest known reserve after South Africa. These resources a finite and can run out and as such the proceeds from these resources must be invested wisely in properly structured Institutions such as the Zimbabwe Sovereign Wealth Fund (ZSWF).
According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is defined as a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, or other financial instruments funded by foreign exchange assets. Generally these assets include: balance of payments surpluses, official foreign currency operations, the proceeds of privatizations, fiscal surpluses, and/or receipts resulting from commodity exports. Sovereign Wealth Funds can be structured as a fund, pool, or corporation.
There are two major types of SWF funds: saving funds and stabilization funds. Stabilization SWFs are created to reduce the volatility of government revenues, to counter the boom-bust cycles' adverse effect on government spending and the national economy. Savings SWFs build up savings for future generations according to Wikipedia.
Traditionally SWF tend to prefer returns over liquidity, thus they have a higher risk tolerance than traditional foreign exchange reserves. This is in line with their goal to create long term value and build wealth for future generations who may not have the same mineral resources at their disposal.
In theory SWF have their origins in Commodities – funded through commodity exports, either taxed or owned by the government. And Non Commodities – Usually created via transfers of assets from official foreign exchange reserves. Zimbabwe’s Sovereign Wealth Fund would naturally be from commodities and exports of minerals and royalties from Diamonds ,Gold ,Platinum etc.
A few SWFs, such as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and China Investment Corporation (CIC), invest wealth from fiscal surpluses or foreign currency reserves.
According to the Economist Magazine “The world’s largest sovereign-wealth fund belongs to the United Arab Emirates, whose Abu Dhabi Investment Authority manages assets worth $627 billion. No single Chinese fund is nearly as big: the chunkiest, the SAFE Investment Company, has holdings worth $347 billion. But taken together China’s sovereign funds are worth an estimated $831 billion, more than any other country’s holdings. Many of the biggest sovereign funds belong to oil exporters.”
Many emerging nations which have significant natural resources have turned to SWF as a way to broaden and deepen their capital markets. WF provide long term capital similar to what the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has been able to do in Zimbabwe’s capital and money markets over the last decade. The ZSWF will have a critical role in ensuring that there are more deep pocketed Institutions in Zimbabwe with capacity to underwrite huge transactions whilst furthering national economic vision and goals.Some African countries as well such as Libya,Nigeria,Botswana and Mauritania have also developed and established SWFs.
SWF have historically been accused of being too secretive and lacking in transparency which the ZSWF should be structured to address and ensure it has the support of all stakeholders as it will be holding assets and resources on behalf of the nation including future generations. he fund structure should outline the Management composition, here and how funds can be invested.
Domestically, people want to know how their money is being invested, whereas internationally SWFs face challenges investing in companies that fear their motives may be politically driven. These are areas which need to be critically looked at before the ZSWF concept is fully implemented.
Disclaimer
Prepared by GMRI Capital (www.gmricapital.com) for 3MG MEDIA (www.3mgmedia.ca). At GMRI Capital, we pride ourselves on the quality and depth of our research and analysis. This means digging deeper than our competition for information and generating more useful reports.
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