The Springbok prop who “scrummed like three men” and runs a major investment bank in London

Former Springbok tighthead prop Izak Jacobus “Cobus” Visagie is the CEO of London-based Africa Merchant Capital, which participates in renewable and last-mile fibre projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Visagie played tighthead prop for the Springboks from 1999 to 2003 and is described as a cornerstone of the Springbok team that reached the World Cup semi-final in 1999.

Nicknamed “Drieman” because he wore the number three on his jersey and “scrummed like three men”, he won four Currie Cups with Western Province and earned 43 Super 12 caps with the Stormers.

In his first year playing for the Springboks, Visagie was nominated as one of five South African Rugby players of the year, alongside legends like Joost van der Westhuizen, Breyton Paulse, and André Venter.

Visagie went on to earn 29 caps for his country. He was excluded from the 2003 Rugby World Cup Springbok squad due to an ankle injury.

Following his Springbok career, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he settled in at Saracens in 2003.

“I came out of that 2002 season where I dislocated my ankle, and I was on the fastest possible track to get it right, but I was probably not on par at that stage,” he said in an interview with Front Row Rugby.

“I needed another two or three months, which, if I had a bit of patience, I could have got there.”

However, after his recovery, he racked up 121 games for Saracens and was voted into the Guinness Premiership team of the season for three consecutive years.

He also earned eight caps playing for the Barbarians, three for the World XV, and played in the Southern Hemisphere XV that played in the Tsunami Relief game at Twickenham in 2005.

Visagie retired from professional rugby in May 2009. However, during his time as a Springbok tighthead, he worked as an assistant manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Studying in Stellenbosch to start a career in finance

Visagie was born in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape on 31 October 1973, and attended Paul Roos Gymnasium.

After matriculating for Pool Roos Gymnasium, Visagie remained in Stellenbosch, where he studied a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in auditing and accounting.

During his time at Paul Roos Gymnasium and Stellenbosch University, he played for their respective rugby teams and the Western Province youth team.

His studies at Stellenbosch University spanned from January 1996 to November 1996, after which he qualified as a chartered accountant (CA) through the South African Accounting and Auditing Board.

He officially qualified as a CA in April 1998. However, he had already commenced his professional rugby career at Western Province in January 1996.

In January 1997, Visagie started work as an assistant manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which he balanced with his rugby schedules for both Western Province and the Springboks.

He worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers until November 2003, after his Springbok rugby career came to an end.

Speaking to Front Row Rugby, he noted that his experience in finance contributed to the end of his career at the Springboks.

He acknowledged that he didn’t see eye-to-eye with Rudolf Straeuli, Springbok coach at the time.

“They came into a session, and with my financial background, they made a proposal to the team in June of 2003, for everybody to go on risk,” said Visagie.

Being “on risk” meant the players would not have a salary or a contract until they went to the Rugby World Cup in October of that year.

“They wanted everyone to play on risk. I stood up with a number of other players and said it was absolute nonsense, it’s unprofessional, and it’s a disgrace to offer something like that,” he added.

After retiring from professional rugby after a long stint with Saracens, Visagie was appointed commercial director of Premier Team Holdings, a role he held from July 2009 to July 2010.

Building his career

While Visagie started as CEO of Africa Merchant Capital (AMC) in June 2011, he was involved with several other finance firms.

He was a shareholder in real estate investment firm UHP Investments from April 2007. Visagie took on the role of a principal at Templewood Merchant Bank, based in London, in November 2011.

The firm specialised in investment, advisory, technology, telecoms, sport, real estate, and renewable energy. Visagie worked as a principal at Templewood Merchant Bank until January 2013.

During his tenure with Africa Merchant Capital, he was appointed a director of AMC Trade Finance Limited in February 2016.

AMC Trade Finance is a subsidiary of Africa Merchant Capital, providing flexible, secure trade finance to SME exporters from West and East to Southern Africa.

“Our model is transaction, rather than balance sheet driven, and our aim is to dramatically increase the availability of trade finance to inward trade to select African countries,” said Visagie.

He noted that AMC Trade Finance had a particular focus on Sub-Saharan African countries. Visagie left the director role at AMC Trade Finance in December 2021 after nearly six years with the firm.

Visagie still serves as the CEO of London-based Africa Merchant Capital, a position he has held for more than 14 years.

“Africa Merchant Capital is a privately owned boutique merchant bank, focused on the high growth of private markets in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he says.

Visagie said the firm participates in renewable energy and last-mile fibre infrastructure projects in the region.

“The AMC Group has specialist business units providing trade finance and asset finance to enterprises in the African mid-market and also provides market-leading corporate finance advisory services.”