It is believed that investing in African art does not yield much return. But a South African collector has made a lifetime hobby collecting tribal artefacts. Ronald Lowenthal has more than a thousand relics and artworks from all across the continent. CGTN's Julie Scheier has more from Johannesburg.

African art collectors are a rare breed. But Ronald Lowenthal's fascination with tribal art has turned into an impressive collection. It all started while he was working in Asia in the 1970s.

RONALD LOWENTHAL AFRICAN ART COLLECTOR "I picked up that the art had quite a lot of African influences, tribes all over the world tend to make the same objects and designs and quite a few of my pieces, are utensils or utility items. These are quite famous in Asia, these are called pig sticks. These, in Papua New Guinea. They stick them in the ground. They wrap those leaves around it, with the poison dart, and they chase the pigs."

Lowenthal returned to Africa in 1984. His work in the mining industry took him to all corners of the continent, and his hobby took on an African shape.

RONALD LOWENTHAL AFRICAN ART COLLECTOR "There was a guy from Congo. His father was a dealer, and he came here, and he wanted to get rid of them. I bought about I can't remember, 2030 pieces from him. And that was all those on the top and most of those on the bottom."

JULIE SCHEIER JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA "Ronald Lowenthal has been collecting this art for over 30 years. It's dramatic and unique and these pieces come from mainly Central and West Africa."

He now has more than a thousand objects and artefacts, some of which could be more than 250 years old.

RONALD LOWENTHAL AFRICAN ART COLLECTOR "You'll never be able to really date the pieces. Unless you know exactly where they came from. If you know the village and you've spoken to the people, you can get a good idea. But generally, you don't have that. Generally, you've just got an idea that looks like an old piece or this is a young piece."

African cultural art does not generate much interest in the local or global market. And there's just a handful of collectors like Lowenthal, who do it for passion, and not money. JULIE SCHEIER, CGTN, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA.