As the business community reflects on the current year coming to a close, Bard Santner Inc, a local Harare-based financial services company which specialises in asset management, corporate and micro-finance, wealth management, remittances and investment promotion, says it has emerged stronger and more resilient, despite significant economic challenges experienced during the course of the 12 months under review.

Bard Santner also runs TX Money Transfer, a prominent financial remittance services company with a footprint in Zimbabwe and regionally.

Its driving force includes Senziwani Sikhosana (Chief Executive), senior executives Tatenda Hungwe and Lucia Chingwaru, among other key managers responsible for strategic planning, operations, and decision-making.

In an internal annual business review report, titled Bard Santner Inc: A Year of Resilience and Growth, Bard Santner says 2025 was characterised by a challenging operating environment, which tested yet motivated the team to prime itself to work against all odds and seize available investment opportunities to ensure success.

“Despite numerous economic challenges which the business faced during the year, our team has worked tirelessly to drive innovation, expand our offerings, and solidify our position as a fast-growing new player in the market.

The team performed exceptionally well even during difficult moments quickly pivoting to capitalise on opportunities available to meet increased demand from our customers and investors.

There was resilience in the face of adversity during some critical junctures.

Our focus on operational efficiency and cost optimisation enabled us to navigate the challenging economic environment and harsh business climate. We have streamlined our processes, invested in technology, and upskilled our team to drive productivity and innovation.

Our enterprising management’s unique set of skills, including leadership, strategic thinking, and ability to make difficult decisions under pressure, pulled us through the year.

Bard Santner’s business approach of seeing a half-full glass – not a half-empty one – and its resilience helped us achieve some positive results across difficult business lines.”

The report continues:

“Some of the highlights of the year include our regional expansion into Johannesburg, South Africa, where we opened an office in Sandton, Africa’s financial capital (we already have a representative office in New York, United States), high-profile partnerships, expanding our remittance network footprint, participating in the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja, Nigeria, and bringing Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote to Zimbabwe to invest more than US$1 billion in cement manufacturing, coal mining and power generation.

Our performance in 2025 has solidified our status as a vibrant, dynamic and fast-growing upcoming player in the market.

From high-level regional and international engagements to major regulatory approvals and a historic investment deal, the company has demonstrated both ambition and execution across multiple fronts.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe appointed Bard Santner as the asset manager for three Tasimba Properties (formerly Tetrad Investment Bank) unit trusts.

This demonstrated the market’s growing confidence in our brand, investment management capabilities and governance track record.

In April, we participated in the Seeff Zimbabwe Diaspora Property Showcase in Dallas, Texas, United States.

The event occurred from April 24 to 27, 2025, at The Westin Dallas-Fort Worth Hotel.

Seeff Zimbabwe organised the event.

Our participation in the showcase, just like at the Zimbabwe capital markets investment conference that we held in London in April 2023, was aimed at entering the diaspora market, North America in this case.”

Bard Santner’s annual business review report also talks about Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s recent visit to Zimbabwe.

“We also sought to connect with potential investors and clients in the diaspora to attract investment and boost remittance opportunities.

In June, we participated in the Afreximbank Annual Meetings, one of Africa’s most important gatherings for trade, investment, and economic policy interfaces.

The Afreximbank Annual Meetings 2025 were held in Abuja, Nigeria from June 25 to June 28.

The event brought together business leaders to discuss Africa’s economic future, with key themes including resilience, collaboration, and innovation to drive trade and growth across the continent.

The engagement enabled Bard Santner to deepen regional networks, explore cross-border partnerships, and align its growth trajectory with continental economic trends.

That provided us with the opportunity to interact with Dangote and later travel to Lagos, Nigeria, to meet him to start talks about him coming to Zimbabwe after initial failed attempts in 2015 and 2018.

The result of that adventure was the massive deal worth over US$1 billion.”

The report further includes regional expansion and corporate social responsibilities.

“In a major step towards regional expansion, we officially entered the South African market in July 2025.

Bard Santner secured two key regulatory approvals:

• National Credit Regulator Licence as a Credit Provider

• Asset Manager Licence under South Africa’s regulatory frameworks

These approvals marked a significant validation of Bard Santner’s operational capacity and governance standards, while positioning the business to offer credit, investment, and wealth solutions in one of Africa’s most mature financial markets.

These milestones also reflect the institution’s broader strategy to build a borderless, Pan African financial institution.

In terms of social corporate responsibilities, which provide strong business networking opportunities, the SA Golf Challenge, organised annually by Bard Santner, continued to grow in scale and influence throughout 2025.

The tournament attracted rising participation and strengthened its reputation as a premier networking platform for senior business leaders in Zimbabwe and across Southern Africa.

A key highlight of the event was the introduction of an all-expenses-paid trip for the tournament champion to attend the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa’s premier resort in North West.

The winner will travel early this month, accompanied by our senior business executive Tatenda Hungwe who in March took Royal Golf Club captain Audley Chatora on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Investec South Africa Open in Durban.

Since its launch in October 2024, the Bard Santner Road to SA Challenge, held in

partnership with Royal Harare Golf Club, has rapidly grown to become Zimbabwe’s premier corporate golf tournament.”

The Bard Santner report adds:

“With these numerous achievements spanning regulatory advancement, regional expansion, industrial diplomacy, and global market participation, 2025 stands as a phenomenal year for Bard Santner Inc. despite all the challenges.

The company’s activities have enhanced Zimbabwe’s visibility on the continental investment landscape, while demonstrating its capacity to influence high-value economic partnerships across Africa.”

Bard Santner says going forward, it will bring more high-profile investors to Zimbabwe and seek to capitalise on the country’s positive economic prospects on the horizon.

Zimbabwe’s economic prospects for the immediate future are positive, with major institutions projecting a significant 5% growth in 2026, primarily driven by strong performance in agriculture, mining, and services.

Despite the multifaceted problems the country faces, the economy is projected to rebound with an estimated 5% GDP growth (rebased GDP is now US$53 billion) largely supported by the recovery in agriculture, iron and steel manufacturing, and services, outpacing many regional peers in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

The growth prospects are accompanied by easing inflation, currency stability, and a consistent policy agenda to sustain macroeconomic recovery and improve the ease of doing business to spur private investment and job creation.

While the fiscal deficit narrowed, financing needs and debt‑service pressures remain high, reflecting unsustainable public debt and outstanding external arrears.

Elevated debt with external arrears constrains access to affordable financing and debt‑service costs, crowding out priority investment and social spending.

Amid these challenges, Zimbabwe’s economy is projected to grow, with forecasts from government, World Bank and International Monetary Fund projecting GDP growth of around 5%-6% for 2025, recovering from a slowdown to about 2% in 2024 due to a severe drought.

Bard Santner says sustained economic reforms, improved governance, and policy consistency are crucial to maintain investor confidence and achieve government’s Vision 2030 goal of becoming an upper-middle-income economy.

Overall, the consensus from various financial institutions is one of cautious optimism, emphasising that the positive trajectory is sustainable, although highly dependent on maintaining macroeconomic stability, structural reforms, policy consistency, and fiscal discipline.

BARD SANTNER INC KEY BUSINESS EXECUTIVES:

Senziwani Sikhosana (Chief Executive):

Sikhosana holds a Master’s degree in Banking and Commerce from the National University of Science and Technology.

He is an Associate Chartered

Management Accountant.

He worked for the National Merchant Bank, Trust Merchant Bank, Kingdom Merchant Bank, and Interfin Merchant Bank.

He co-founded Access Finance with former colleagues and operated a transport logistics company (Burious Logistics), a plastics manufacturing company (Plastec Designs P/L) and established Bard Santner.

Tatenda Hungwe:

Hungwe has been in the financial sector in various roles, including stockbroking and advisory services, for a long time, having started at National Discount House (NDH) in 2003.

Some of the institutions that he worked for after that include Sagit Financial Holdings, private equity firms in South Africa, Dubai Professional Trading Group, N2 Capital Markets in the United Arab Emirates,

Overseas Financial Services, Invest It, Parker Randall Strategy, DeVere, First Tecoma, and Bard Santner where he is currently executive director – diversified financial services.

Lucia Chingwaru:

Chingwaru began her enterprising professional journey in the financial services sector with foundational clerical roles at Nissi Finance and CBZ Bank between 1999 and 2003.

She then joined Kingdom Bank, where she grew and advanced into senior leadership positions, building a strong track record in banking operations and management over the years.

In 2018, she joined Access Finance as a Back Office Supervisor and rapidly progressed to become the Country Director of Access Forex, overseeing strategic growth, operational efficiency, and market expansion initiatives.

In 2022, Chingwaru appointed Executive Director at Bard Santner, where she currently provides strategic leadership, drive organisational performance, and support the firm’s long-term growth agenda. She is one of the pillars of the company.