Avantis eyes 2027 stock market debut

115

AVANTIS Technologies plans to list on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) in the first quarter of 2027 as it seeks to expand its manufactur­ing capacity and strengthen its posi­tion against established international brands.

The company manufactures lap­tops, tablets, all-in-one computers and television sets, combining local design with international technical expertise and manufacturing partner­ships from China and the Netherlands.

Chief executive Ari Goldstein said the listing is expected to strengthen its brand, improve access to capital and support its expansion plans.

Goldstein said the company had postponed its planned listing from this year because it expected business ac­tivity to slow in November, December and January.

“We are now about 93 percent through the process of listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange to le­gitimise our brand and make it look more professional, competitive and appealing to the world at large,” he said.

“We are looking at February or March (to list on VFEX), but we should definitely complete our listing during the first quarter of 2027,” he said.

Goldstein also urged the govern­ment to address the influx of smug­gled electronics, which he said was undermining locally-manufactured products.

“The government needs to deal with cheaper imports, including refur­bished computers from Asian markets and fake HP products resold here in Zimbabwe. I think we need to address this issue through the Treasury, Zim­ra, the Ministry of ICT and the gov­ernment, particularly the Office of the President and Cabinet, because many people are buying fake products, in­cluding HP, Lenovo and Dell comput­ers. Yet we have the capacity to man­ufacture about 318 000 computers a year,” he said.

“Producing 318,000 computers a year can make a difference by meet­ing demand, lowering prices and gen­erating revenue for the government. I think we need to curb smuggling and the sale of counterfeit products in the market. This is an issue that needs im­mediate attention,” he added.

Goldstein said the company was also developing an artificial intelli­gence model called Malume, meaning “uncle”, which it hopes will provide technology tailored to local needs.

“We are developing our own mod­el. It is a proper model, similar to a cloud-based system, through which we can control and share data and make it more suited to addressing the issues we face as a people.

“The future is very exciting. The model will be launched in the first quarter of next year, and our techni­cal team is currently working on this exciting project,” he said.