History of Shanduka

Shanduka Group was founded in 2001 as a black-owned investment holding company. It was invested in a diverse portfolio of listed and unlisted companies, with key holdings in the resources, food and beverage industries. Shanduka also invested in the financial services, energy, telecoms, property and industrial sectors. The group had investments in South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius, Ghana and Nigeria.

The company’s investment philosophy was founded on partnering with firms with a history of delivering profitable earnings and that had capable management teams who embraced transformation.

Shanduka developed a growth strategy that typically consisted of three phases:

• It often commenced as a purely financial investor seeking opportunities for capital formation and cash generation.
• It gradually acquired operating skills with a view to significantly influencing selected businesses.
• It acquired equity and operational control of entities regarded as long term core investments.

Shanduka’s broad-based ownership demonstrated its commitment to empowerment and transformation. Part of its shareholding was held by trusts that invest in education and small business development. Total black ownership was 51%, of which an 18% shareholding was held by broad-based trusts.

In 2004, Shanduka Group launched the Shanduka Foundation (now named Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation “CRF”) committed to spend R100 million on corporate social investments over 10 years. The Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation had a various entities through which it carried out its social investments, including the Adopt-a-School Foundation, Black Umbrellas, Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust and Shanduka Internships.