JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, February 11, 2026/APO Group/ –Vantage Capital (www.VantageCapital.co.za), Africa’s largest mezzanine debt fund manager, announced that it has fully exited its investment in Seaton Estates (“Seaton”), a residential coastal development located on the North Coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The promoter of Seaton is Collins Residential, the residential arm of a diversified group with interests in the real estate, hospitality, and agricultural sectors, both in South Africa and internationally.

The Seaton development sits on prime property with direct access to a kilometre stretch of beach frontage. The development comprises 1,150 opportunities made up of 600 single residential stands and 22 planned urban developments, offering a further 550 sectional title opportunities. The development is designed to be an eco-conscious coastal estate characterized by wild grasslands, ocean views and rehabilitated indigenous forests. Facilities include a country club with multi-disciplinary sports, an equestrian centre with arena’s and stabling, direct beach access and 26km of walking, running and bridle trails through rehabilitated natural forest and grasslands. Later stages of the development will include commercial mixed-use nodes offering retail, education, and office facilities. The development is near the popular leisure towns of Salt Rock and Ballito.

Vantage first invested in Seaton in January 2022 by arranging R360 million of mezzanine funding for development of initial phases of common use infrastructure and bulk services (primarily for single residential units). After a 4-year investment period, Vantage has been fully exited through a combination of sale proceeds and a senior debt refinance by FedGroup.

Werksmans acted as legal counsel for Vantage.

Roshal Ramdenee, Partner at Vantage Capital, said “This investment demonstrates how structured mezzanine capital can unlock large-scale infrastructure development in complex residential projects. Our funding enabled the timely delivery of critical bulk infrastructure, which in turn supported strong sales momentum and value creation across the estate. We are pleased to have partnered with Collins Residential on a high-quality coastal development and to have achieved an outcome that reflects both the strength of the underlying asset and disciplined execution over the investment period”

Luc Albinski, Executive Chairman at Vantage Capital, added “Seaton Estates marked the first investment of our Fund IV program and set the tone for what we aim to achieve. From the outset, we partnered with an exceptionally entrepreneurial KZN-based group known for executing large and complex developments. Despite the disruptions of the KZN riots, extreme weather events, and unavoidable approval delays, the partnership remained resilient. Collaborating with such a professional and committed team has been a genuine pleasure.”

Jon De Bufanos, Financial Director at Collins Residential added “Vantage Capital’s mezzanine funding played an important role in supporting the delivery of key infrastructure during the early phases of the Seaton Estates development. The funding structure gave us flexibility during a challenging period, while allowing the project to continue progressing in a measured and disciplined way. We appreciated Vantage’s practical, collaborative approach throughout the investment period and their contribution to the development of Seaton.”

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 11, 2026/APO Group/ –Global demand for rare earths is set to triple by 2035, reaching 150,000 tons from 91,000 tons in 2024. As producers and consumers seek new sources of supply to meet this surge, Africa is increasingly coming into focus. Projected to account for 9% of global output by 2029, the continent is accelerating exploration and drilling activity as governments and developers move to translate geological potential into commercial production. While large-scale output remains underdeveloped, Africa’s high-grade deposits, improving project economics and faster development timelines are positioning it as a strategic supplier of critical minerals to global markets.

 

Expanding Africa’s Exploration Portfolio

As the adoption of electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and advanced manufacturing accelerates global demand for rare earths, African countries are scaling up exploration efforts to delineate resources, support job creation and attract international mining investment.

London-listed Pensana commenced preparations for a 7,000-meter infill drilling program at Longonjo Mine in Angola – the country’s first rare earth project. The program is designed to support an early 2027 mining and stockpiling schedule, with initial production of 20,000 tons per annum (tpa) and options to increase output to 40,000 tpa in a second phase. At full scale, the Longonjo project is projected to supply approximately 5% of the world’s magnetic rare earths, positioning Angola as a key supplier on the global market.

Meanwhile, in Botswana, Canada’s Tsodilo Resources is planning a 15,000-meter drilling campaign in 2026 at the Gcwihaba project for resource definition, while Kavango Resources intends to conduct additional drilling at its Ditau project as it seeks partners for expansion. In South Africa, Rainbow Rare Earths is advancing drilling at its Phalaborwa project, targeting completion of a feasibility study by the end of 2026. Namibia’s ReExploration continues exploration activities at its Eureka and Lofdal projects, following several private placements raised in 2025. Meanwhile, in Mozambique’s Tete province, Altona Rare Earths is drilling at the Monte Muambe high-grade gallium project, which has already defined a maiden mineral resource estimate of 13.6 million tons at 2.42% total rare earth oxides.

Rising Demand Bolsters Foreign Spending 

While the majority of Africa’s rare earth production assets remain in construction or pre-production phases, global investor appetite for the continent’s resource potential continues to strengthen, with several projects securing financing to accelerate deployment.

In October 2025, South Africa’s Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine secured its first tranche of funding from the Industrial Development Corporation, supporting the development of the project’s metallurgical phase and underpinning its production expansion plans. Hosting one of the world’s highest-grade rare earth deposits, with an average grade of 14.5% total rare earth oxides, the project reinforces South Africa’s emerging role in the global rare earth supply chain.

Momentum is also building in Malawi, where the Songwe Hill rare earth project secured $4.6 million in financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation in September 2025 to advance front-end engineering and design studies. As Africa is forecast to attract up to $50 billion in investment for critical minerals development between 2024 and 2040, rare earth projects are increasingly central to converting rising investor interest into tangible capital flows and near-term production capacity.

Stepping into this picture, the upcoming African Mining Week (AMW) – scheduled for October 14-16, 2026 in Cape Town – will spotlight key project milestones and emerging investment opportunities across the continent’s rare earth sector. The event will feature high-level panel discussions, exhibitions and exclusive networking sessions, bringing together global investors with African projects, regulators and stakeholders from across the rare earths value chain.

AMW serves as a premier platform for exploring the full spectrum of mining opportunities across Africa. The event is held alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2026 conference from October 12-16 in Cape Town. Sponsors, exhibitors and delegates can learn more by contacting sales@energycapitalpower.com.

The organisers of the DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum have announced the launch of a new, co-located event to this flagship annual gathering in Kolwezi, namely, the DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum.

“The successful 2025 edition of DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum reaffirmed that industrialisation is the key to transforming the DRC’s mineral wealth into sustainable prosperity,” says Samukelo Madlabane, Event Director, Mining Portfolio of the VUKA Group that organises several leading mining events on the continent.

“We received incredible engagement and collaboration from private and public sectors alike, and this reinforced the forum’s mission to accelerate the industrialisation of the DRC through value addition, beneficiation, and local participation in the global supply chain. We thank the Government of the DRC for its continued leadership and support in driving this national industrial vision.”

Heeding the call to action
He adds: “the event was truly transformative with leaders from mining houses, government, investors, and industry at large coming together with one shared vision; the forum concluded with a clear call to turn dialogue into action and partnerships into long-term impact. We are heeding this call by launching the DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum, providing that much-needed momentum to take this vision to the next level and to reality.”

He continues: “In particular, the DRC government is on an action-oriented drive to industrialise the country off the back of its mineral wealth and this Forum is the vehicle to do just that.”

The new Forum, which is to be co-located with the DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum in Kolwezi in October, will bring together mining companies, refiners, downstream manufacturers, investors, EPCs (engineering, procurement, construction), financiers, logistics, energy, telecoms, infrastructure, and government to accelerate DRC’s journey from mineral extraction to fully integrated industrial value chains.

Representatives from the following sectors will attend and contribute to the discussions:

• Mining and up-stream extraction
• Mineral processing and refining / Beneficiation
• Downstream manufacturing
• Energy and power infrastructure
• Transport and logistics (mining supply chains)
• Investment, financing, and funding / Project finance
• Policy, regulation, and government strategy / Local content and industrial policy
• Telecoms / Digital infrastructure and data
• Sustainability, ESG, community, and social impact / Workforce development

DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum
“We look forward to visionary, insightful, creative, and, most of all, practical hands-on discussions by esteemed industry pioneers and entrepreneurs in our new co-located Forum,” says Madlabane. “We thank the Government of the DRC for its continued leadership and support in driving this national industrial vision. Their endorsement played a key role in shaping the discussions and outcomes of last year’s event. We look forward to growing and shaping the journey along with the various national, regional, and global private and public sector stakeholders.”

Industry support
Last year’s DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum enjoyed the support of industry leaders such as Cominière S.A., Enabel DRC, Mining Engineering Services, Elephant Trade, ANAPI, Alfred H. Knight, Congo Astral Company, Elada Consulting, Equity BCDC, Glorhis Multi Services, Kamoa Copper, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, MMG Kinsevere, Morco Services, Temperature, Telluric Holdings Sarl and Trust Merchant Bank S.A.

DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum and DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum dates and venue:
Date: 7–9 October 2026
Location: Kolwezi, DRC