Zimbabweans can buy Dangote shares, but not quite through an app

A Zimbabwean investor can buy into Africa’s biggest-ever initial public offering (IPO), but the journey starts with paperwork, approvals and a bank transfer, not an app.

Bard Santner Investors (BSI), a Zimbabwean asset management firm, is facilitating the country’s participation in Dangote Refinery’s $1.6 billion IPO, giving local investors access to a share sale that opened to investors across Africa on September 14. But the process also reveals how much of cross-border investing remains manual even as fintech platforms make domestic investing increasingly digital.

The Dangote IPO is testing Africa’s investment infrastructure from two directions: Nigerian investment apps struggled with a surge in retail demand, while Zimbabwean investors are relying on Bard Santner to navigate foreign-exchange controls, custody and cross-border settlement.

“So far, because of the time, we couldn’t do online applications. We are doing it more manually,” Ngoni Chikowore, head of asset management at Bard Santner, told TechCabal in an interview on Tuesday.

That manual process does not mean Zimbabweans are sitting out one of Africa’s biggest investment opportunities. Instead, BSI has built a route for investors to participate in the Nigerian offer.

“Because we are all outside Nigeria, the application is treated as an offshore or foreign investment in Nigeria,” Chikowore said. In Zimbabwe, the investment is also treated as an offshore transaction, requiring exchange-control approval.

BSI, which is regulated as an asset manager in Zimbabwe, obtains the required approvals before moving clients’ funds through Ecobank Zimbabwe, the country’s digital banking pioneer, to Ecobank Nigeria. On the Nigerian side, Ecobank’s nominee structure holds the assets and submits the IPO application on BSI’s behalf.

“When we then do a subscription from this side, they will then upload a completed form on behalf of us and submit it for the IPO,” Chikowore said.

He said the $20,000 threshold is intended to meet the minimum requirement for eligible African investors participating through BSI, while leaving room for adjustments to the final share allocation. 

Dangote has marketed the IPO as a broad retail opportunity, with the offer comprising 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 (40c) each and targeting about $1.6 billion. The minimum Nigerian subscription is 10 shares, or ₦5,250 ($3.96), allowing much smaller domestic investors to participate.

For Zimbabweans, however, the BSI route provides a way into the same deal despite the additional regulatory and settlement requirements. The prospectus says the offer closes on October 13, with listing expected in November, giving BSI a narrow window to complete approvals, funding and applications for participating Zimbabwean clients within the deadline.

That infrastructure was tested from another direction when Nigerian digital investment platforms came under pressure after the IPO opened. On September 14, TechCabal reported outages at Bamboo and Cowrywise.

Although BSI is Zimbabwean, the disruption in Nigeria threatened to disrupt IPO applications and payments from Zimbabwean and other African investors. Chikowore said the outage did not ultimately derail the process because client funds move through the banking system, while BSI retains records confirming investors’ participation. 

“The only risk is if maybe before allotment,” he stated. “When we transfer the funds, we are transferring them through the banking sector through Ecobank Zimbabwe to Ecobank Nigeria, so we have evidence or a claim to say we have participated.”

The investment material links the Dangote opportunity to businesses spanning mining, cement and fertiliser manufacturing, power generation and fuel transportation, including a 2,000-kilometre petroleum pipeline running from Namibia’s Walvis Bay through Botswana to Bulawayo.

“What we are working towards is automating our process,” he said. The goal is eventually to let clients access their investment accounts through internet banking.

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