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Cape Town - The JSE-listed company Sekunjalo Investments Limited, a subsidiary of the privately held Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, has re-branded itself and will now be known as African Equity Empowerment Investments Limited (AEEI).
The official change of the company's name and brand was celebrated at the Shimmy Beach Club in the V&A Waterfront on Thursday afternoon.
AEEI's group CEO Khalid Abdulla told Fin24 at the event that change was unanimously accepted by the board of directors and the shareholders.
"As a leading BBBEE success story operating in South Africa, AEEI [JSE:AEE] is at the forefront of transformation and is one of the largest listed black economic empowerment companies in the country,” said Abdulla.
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"The rationale and reason for the change of name is to better reflect the underlying businesses and investments of the Group going forward and to differentiate from the private holding company."
It was felt that the name change better describes the company’s founding business objectives.
"The focus and commitment of this business remains growing our businesses on a sustainable basis and empowering people for the long term to benefit the South African economy as a whole," said Abdulla.
It also gives the company the freedom to be able to further develop its own identity and operate as an independent entity with a view to expanding its current ambit.
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“The change of name has already had a positive influence on our organisation. There is a fresh level of energy, perspective and future focus, which most certainly will be leading to growth and more business opportunities," said non-executive chair Prof. Vukile Mehana at the celebration.
"The operating word for AEEI is therefore empowerment for all stakeholders."
Abdulla added that the use of the word "African" in the new name refers to the company as an African player, with lots of interest from the international markets. The group has set its sights on expansion within South Africa as well as into Africa over the next few years.
Both Mehana and Abdulla mentioned that part of the purpose of the name change was to differentiate AEEI from its privately held Sekunjalo parent company of Dr Iqbal Survé and which is also the parent company of Independent Newspapers, for instance.
Survé tweeted on April 10 about the name change.
Abdulla said AEEI is currently in talks about a possible deal and that it is also looking at the potential of listing its biotech division.
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