Louisa Mojela, a seasoned South African investor, exudes confidence and poise as she sits in her Park Lane hotel overlooking the London rooftops. With over 30 years of experience at the helm of Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (WIPHOLD), she has established herself as a shrewd investor with a solid track record of picking winners.
WIPHOLD, an unlisted company, boasts a diverse portfolio that spans agriculture, coal mines, and other industries. Mojela’s journey into investment began in 1993, when she attended a workshop that highlighted the business opportunities emerging in post-1994 democratic South Africa. The concept of black economic empowerment (BEE) was a guiding principle of wealth redistribution among the black majority.
Empowering Women in Business
Mojela, along with her colleagues Gloria Serobe, Wendy Luhabe, and Nomhle Canca, decided to take action and promote black women in business. They met weekly to brainstorm and eventually chipped in $100,000 in seed capital to establish WIPHOLD. The company’s first investment was 750,000 rand ($46,000) in financial services company Baobab, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
By 1996, WIPHOLD had investments in Bidvest, clothing chain store Smart Center, beauty product manufacturer Carsons, and mobile communications provider Ericsson. In 1999, the company listed on the JSE to raise capital but delisted in 2002 to avoid diluting their shareholding. Today, WIPHOLD’s investment portfolio is valued in hundreds of millions of US dollars, with holdings in infrastructure, food and agriculture, financial services, education, and energy.
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Mojela’s investment strategy is informed by her background and experience.
WIPHOLD has invested in several agricultural ventures, including a 3.3% stake in Hans Merensky Group, a leading lumber product manufacturer and sub-tropical fruit grower. The company has also invested in Westfalia Fruit, the world’s second-largest producer of avocados, with estates in southern Africa, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Portugal, the US, and India. According to Gugu Dingaan, a member of WIPHOLD’s investment committee, agriculture makes up about a quarter of the company’s overall portfolio.
Investing in the Future
Mojela’s commitment to education is evident in her involvement with the WIPHOLD CSR project, which has invested in an English-medium school in Lesotho. She believes that missionary schools can play a vital role in providing better schooling and discipline. Mojela’s own education has been a driving force behind her success, with a degree in commerce from the National University of Lesotho and executive leadership programs at Wharton Business School and Insead.
As Mojela looks to the future, she remains bullish on coal mining, despite the global shift towards renewables. Mojela notes that as a developing country, South Africa still needs coal to supply the coal plants. WIPHOLD’s investment in WIP Coal, which acquired a 10.2% stake in Sasol Mining, reflects this strategy. Mojela’s tolerance and understanding of the complexities surrounding coal mining are informed by her father’s experience as a mining manager and her own upbringing in a mining town.
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Mojela’s father, Matsoso Mojela, was an influential chief who took up a managerial post at an Anglo American mine in Carletonville. This exposure to the mining industry has had a lasting impact on Mojela’s life and investment decisions. She recalls the racial disparities of the time, including the dominance of Afrikaner culture and the limited opportunities for black people. Despite these challenges, Mojela’s generation sought to break free through education, and she succeeded in earning a degree in commerce and completing executive leadership programs abroad.
She believes that the government should handle the issue in a professional and legal manner, rather than leaving it to marches and violence. Mojela cites the example of her own upbringing in Lesotho, where people from neighboring African countries were integrated into the community, to illustrate that illegal immigrants have not taken jobs from South Africans.
As the conversation turns to the topic of illegal immigration, Mojela’s expression turns serious. She states that it is hard to conceive of what is happening and that the government should have dealt with the matter. Mojela notes that the large number of people who have entered the country illegally shows how porous the borders have been and how much the government has ignored dealing with the matter.
Investing in Agriculture
WIPHOLD has invested in a seed and chemical company in South Africa with East African exposure, and also owns the second largest maize producer in the Eastern Cape. The company has also invested in commercial maize farming in communities and owns grain silos across Africa.
