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By Kevin Samaita
South Africa-based businessman and Agilitee chief executive Dr. Mandla Lamba is angling to transform the global electric vehicles industry after announcing a US$20 billion Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The US $20 billion IPO will see the company selling US$ 2 billion (10 percent) of the stake.
In Zimbabwe, Dr. Lamba has already set up shop in Harare amidst plans to establish an electric vehicles assembly plant in the country.
This is in addition to the company’s rising operations in South Africa, Africa, and other parts of the world. Demand for electric vehicles is on the rise globally on account of the United Nations’ drive to promote green energy and reduce global greenhouse emissions.
Rising prices of petrol and diesel are further pushing up demand for electric cars. In a recent statement, Agilitee, which assembles electric cars, electric motorcycles, and a variety of green energy products said with the IPO of its entire business, the company intends to raise US $2 billion equity capital through a global capital raising roadshow.
Agilitee has completed re-organisation of its business from a regional player to a global outfit.
“Agilitee has now formed regional structures under it, Agilitee Africa being the first one and it covers the entire continent of Africa. The company has also formed Agilitee Americas which also covers the whole of North America. Agilitee is Asia also covering the whole of Asia,” said the company in a statement.
Agilitee is in the process of forming branches in Europe, the UK, UAE, and South America in the next 12 months.
Dr Lamba is now serving as the Founder and CEO of the global structure and listing entity.
He said the IPO will position Agilitee and the African continent at the apex of the global green revolution.
The trailblazing businessman said his company also plans to issue free shares to the less fortunate.
“So this IPO is bringing the poor to the JSE through the free shares we will donate, and making them part of a JSE that has not transformed for 134 years. We are in 2022, but 98 percent of the people who benefit from it are the same structures who benefited from the day the JSE was formed, but I am glad that this is changing now,” he said.
Countries such as Zimbabwe stand to benefit from a reduced fuel import bill through increased uptake of electric cars.
In an interview, Agilitee’s representative in Zimbabwe Mr. Tanaka Kutama said: “There is no doubt that electric cars are the future. The benefits of adopting electric cars are multi-pronged and this is one area that can help to transform Zimbabwe’s economy in line with Government’s Vision 2030 for an upper-middle-income economy. Zimbabwe already has an advantage in that we have vast resources of lithium that is used to manufacture batteries for electric cars.”
Speaking at the launch of a US$300 million lithium plant in Bikita, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe is poised to become a key player in the global transition to green energy through lithium mining and beneficiation of the mineral to empower communities and grow the economy.
“I therefore, urge players in the lithium mining sub-sector to strategically position their business models informed by the fact that lithium demand will continue rising, particularly premised on the growing demand for electric vehicles,” the President said.