SALE OF INTEREST IN MAJOR AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS

| Please c o n ta c t Cuan Duncan fo r fu r th e r details: | Telephone: + 2 7 11 4 8 1 4 3 2 6 | F a c s im i le :+ 2 7 11 6 4 6 8 4 5 9 1 E-mail: cuan.duncan@ za.hsbcib.com a B lo ck C, HSBC Place, 6-9 Riviera Road, Houghton

2 1 9 8 South A fric a

HSBC Investm ent Services (Africa) (P roprietary) Lim ited has been appointed to sell a controlling in terest in the following operations which a re situated in Zam bia, Southern Africa, on behalf of an international financial institution:

T h r e e a r a b l e o p e r a t io n s :

• ap p ro x 3 5 4 0 0 h a , o f w h ich 6 OOOha are p r o d u c in g ra in -fed maize and soya and 1 OOOha are i r r ig a te d and double c ro p p e d each ye a r w ith w hea t and soya; • ap p ro x 12 8 0 0 h a , o f w h ic h 2 7 0 0 h a are p ro d u c in g w hea t, soya and maize,

w ith 2 5 0 0 h a ir r ig a te d ; • ap p ro x 11 5 0 0 h a , o f w h ich 1 lOOha are p ro d u c in g ra in -fed maize and soya; • p ro ductiv e so ils , w ith re lia b le w a te r re sou rce s ; • c ro p y ie ld s on a pa r w ith com p a ra b le f i r s t w o r ld a g r ic u ltu ra l p ro duce rs ; • low d i r e c t c o s ts o f p ro ductio n in re la tio n to o th e r com p a ra b le regional p r oduce rs .

A coffee operation, adjacent to the la rgest a rab le operation: • a 5 7 4 h a c o f fe e e s ta te w h ich p ro duced o v e r 1 9 0 0 to n nes o f A rab ic a co ffe e du r in g 2 0 0 0 ; • well equipped and m a in ta ined p ro c e s s in g fa c i l i t ie s , as well as a sm a ll ro a s t in g and pa ck in g opera t io n ; • well e s ta b lis hed b rand name and esta b l is hed g reen bean e x p o r t m a rk e t.

A flou r milling operation:

• s itu a te d in a m a jo r c en tre o f Zambia, w ith g o o d a c ce s s to w hea t supplies and c u s to m e r base; • com m is s io n e d in 1 9 9 7 w ith fu l ly au tom a te d c om p u te r co n tro l le d m illin g machinery; • capable o f p ro d u c in g o v e r 2 0 0 0 0 to n n e s o f w hea t f lo u r pe r annum.

T h e c o n t ro l l in g s h a r e h o l d e r is p r e p a r e d to c o n s id e r s e l l in g t h e i r in t e r e s t in the w h o le o r a n y o f th e v a r io u s o p e r a t io n s o u t l in e d a b o v e .

HSBC<X^ Is sued b y HSBC In v e s tm e n t S e rv ic e s (A f r ic a ) (P ro p r ie ta ry ) L im ite d

The c o n te n ts o f th is a d ve r t is em e n t have been approved by HSBC Investm ent Bank p ic which is re g u la ted in the United Kin gdom by th e S ecu r it ie s and Futures A u th o r ity L td f o r the purpo ses only o f Section 5 7 o f the Financial Services A c t 1 9 8 6