Lonhro embarks on African expansion trail

Lonhro’s African logistics
subsidiaries – including
Johannesburg-based Rollex,
and its Fly540 aviation
company – will be given
a boost by the company’s
plans to expand its African
operations.
This follows the listing of
the British holding company
on the main board of the
London Stock Exchange – it
has been listed on the British
Alternative Investment Market
(AIM), with a secondary
listing on the Venture Capital
Market of the Johannesburg
Securities Exchange (JSE)
since February 2001.
Described in its prospectus
as being “exclusively focused
on the growth of Africa”, it
has moved it shares to the
main board of the London
Stock Exchange because of
the company’s confidence in
the future of the continent.
The group operates across
five sectors – agribusiness,
infrastructure, transportation,
hotels and support services.
Expansion of the
agribusiness will create
opportunities for Rollex,
which handles Lonrho’s
logistics for its Southern
African agribusiness
interests. This could provide
Rollex with the critical
mass to expand, and to start
competing for business
outside of Lonrho.
The company also plans
to increase capacity – and
competition – in the airfreight
sector by growing its Fly540
aviation business into “a
pan-Continental airline which
operates only in Africa”,
according to the prospectus.
There will also be stronger
competition for the support of
West Africa’s oil sector.
Lonrho plans to provide
a “one stop shop” for the oil
industry in the Luba Freeport
on the island of Bioko in
Equatorial Guinea.