African Rainbow Capital (ARC) Investments says telecommunications company rain’s acquisition of additional spectrum is expected to positively impact the valuation of the ARC Fund’s investment in rain.

The telecommunication company’s plans for using the spectrum must still be finalised, as must an assessment of on rain’s cash flow forecast.

Reporting on the performance of the investments held by ARC Fund for the third quarter of this year, ARC Investments says the rain business continues to perform well as demand for both fourth- and fifth-generation telecommunications services remains strong.

Meanwhile, ARC Fund also has an interest in independent phosphate producer Kropz, which holds an investment in Kropz Elandsfontein, a developed phosphate deposit and processing plant on the West Coast of South Africa, as well as in Cominco, one of the largest undeveloped phosphate deposits in the world, situated in Congo-Brazzaville.

Although the commissioning of the Elandsfontein phosphate plant has suffered several setbacks, ARC Investments highlights that considerable progress has been made on both the mining and processing fronts.

Elandsfontein completed an updated drilling programme to gain a better understanding of the hard bank material present throughout the ore deposit. Work is still being finalised on an updated long-term mining plan.

Up to November 30, Elandsfontein has produced about 30 000 t of phosphate in anticipation of achieving its first bulk sale.

In November, the ARC Fund increased the convertible loan facility by R550-million, of which R247.5-million has already been drawn. The capital was largely used to fund the ongoing operational cash shortfall at Elandsfontein resulting from delays in the processing ramp-up.

A large portion of the remaining balance will be used to fund operations at Elandsfontein.

Some capital will be used towards development work at Cominco.

The ARC Fund continues to engage with the Congo-Brazzaville government on the strategic plan for the asset.

TYMEBANK

Financial services provider TymeBank, meanwhile, continues to sustain its onboarding of new customers. In October, the company reported that about 228 000 new customers were onboarded for the month, which represents a record level in the number of new customers onboarded in a single month.  

The company also experienced a marked increase in the average customer activity levels.

TymeBank maintained the momentum of onboarding new customers in November. In total, the bank onboarded 200 100 new customers. Customer activity levels were also maintained.

In the period under review, TymeBank acquired Retail Capital, which is a fintech funder of small and medium-sized enterprises. The transaction will support TymeBank’s offering to its business banking clients.

It will also see Retail Capital’s lending expertise being combined with TymeBank’s deposit base and operations to serve a broader customer base.

TymeBank’s international partner, Tyme Global, reported that it has successfully launched its digital bank GOtyme in the Philippines with its partners the Gokongwei family. The launch is the next step in Tyme Global’s international growth strategy to have a presence in select markets with the potential for high customer growth.