Of all the aspects to the AVZ story and this is the headline article,
AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
- Start date
I feel very sorry for the DRC locals who have to endure regime after regime of DRc govts whos only interest is self gratification via corruption..........this news is heart breaking for them, but necessary to make a statement to the corrupt to change their waysWorld Bank suspends $1 billion in funding, impacting more than 600,000 beneficiaries
21.11.2023
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces a critical situation as the World Bank recently announced the suspension of its financing for humanitarian and development projects in the country, amounting to a significant amount of $1 billion .
This decision will have a direct impact on more than 600,000 beneficiaries, including victims of sexual violence. This news was communicated to the Congolese Minister of Finance in a letter of which libregrandlac.com has taken note.
Consequences on beneficiaries
The suspension of World Bank funding to the DRC will have a devastating effect on beneficiaries of humanitarian and development projects in the country. Among them are vulnerable people and victims of sexual violence who depend on these projects for their survival and rehabilitation. The consequences of this decision will be immediately felt by those who benefit from these programs, leading to a disruption of essential services such as access to education, health and food security.
Reason for suspension
The World Bank made the decision to suspend funding due to concerns over mismanagement of funds allocated to projects in the DRC. According to the letter sent to the Congolese finance minister, irregularities were noted in the use of previous funding, which led to this drastic suspension. The World Bank emphasizes the importance of transparency and efficiency in the use of financial resources allocated to development projects.
Call for better financial management
The suspension of World Bank financing in the DRC must be seen as a call to act responsibly and transparently in the management of financial resources. It is crucial that the Congolese government takes immediate measures to remedy the problems noted and commits to better financial management. This will help restore trust with international partners and guarantee the continuity of projects for the well-being of beneficiaries.
Faced with this suspension of financing, it is essential that the Congolese government works closely with the World Bank and other international partners to find alternative solutions. It is also important to engage in an open and transparent dialogue in order to resolve the financial management issues that led to this situation. Cooperation between all parties involved is essential to ensure that beneficiaries do not suffer negative consequences from this long-term suspension of funding.
The suspension of World Bank funding to the DRC for humanitarian and development projects is a call for better financial management and transparency in the use of resources. It is crucial that the Congolese government takes immediate action to resolve the identified issues in order to rebuild trust with international partners.
In the meantime, alternative solutions must be considered to ensure the continuity of projects and the well-being of beneficiaries. Collaboration and open dialogue are essential to overcome this difficult situation and provide vital assistance to those who need it most in the DRC.
libregrandlac / MCP, via mediacongo.net
Its actually perfect timing / vindication , for AVZ stance and subsequent court action to quell the corrupt Cominiere / Dathomir / Zijin / DRC Govt regards to Manono.........this slap across the gills via a world wide audience could be just the tonic for FT to wake up, man up and expedite the MOU to ML status for AVZ.
Its time to get a broom stick and sweep up the vermin and cleanse DRC.......before its too late.
imo
TDITD
Top 20
EXACTLY !!!
Massive win at ICC has trickled into ICSID, where the ICSID tribunal has taken notice of the measures that have been handed down:
ICSID has noted the following in OP2 (procedural order 2):
These are provisional at the moment with a hearing set for December 11 to hear the case and make these enforceable - exepcting a verdict before Christmas.
- Suspend all work for PR 13359 and PR 15775 for entities other than Dathcom - so Manono lithium, Z and C can all fuck right off.
- DRC (all ministerial departments, government authorities) to be restricted from taking any actions on the above-mentioned permits.
No riddles to work out in their my Riddler friend.
We have all seen what Cominiere and Zijin have been doing as those imbeciles have been parading it all over X. They have been ordered not to aggravate the situation.
Rule 39 Provisional Measures (1) At any time after the institution of the proceeding, a party may request that provisional measures for the preservation of its rights be recommended by the Tribunal.
On November 6, 2023, the Claimants filed a request for interim measures pursuant to Article 39(1) of
the Arbitration Rules in order to obtain protection of their procedural rights, in particular their rights to
non-aggravation of the dispute between the Parties and the preservation of the right to an enforceable
arbitral award
Non-aggravation of the dispute you say, well this hearing only goes one way.
Bring on December 11th hearing - and the verdict for a Christmas present.
If the MMGA defeat tomorrow (hence failed promises by Chinese and MMGA crooks to DRC officials) doesn't wake up the DRC Government then the ICSID agreement will, where they order a halt to any work by any Zijin/Cominiere affiliated companies on the implicated assets will surely provide a HUGE wake up call.
It will be effectively frozen until arbitration results or an agreement outside of ICSID & ICC, which we ALL know (DRC included) is in DRC's best interests as ICSID they simply cannot afford.
Cumquat Cap
Regular
I have been wondering, would their lawyers actually be honest about the chances of success in regards to ICSID - surely a good legal team must provide a balanced perspective, but doubt Fasken will tell them the truth and take the money.
A large part of me (the angry half) wants ICSID to proceed to fucking stymie all these corrupt ministers - but in reality it would be a disaster for all involved and mostly for DRC residents.
A large part of me (the angry half) wants ICSID to proceed to fucking stymie all these corrupt ministers - but in reality it would be a disaster for all involved and mostly for DRC residents.
TDITD
Top 20
So upon reading this it is now clear that even then PH was working against AVZ an likely for Chinese interests, as noted in the article PH was furious.
Furious possibly because this could have worked (if not for PH knowledge and ultimately did he have a hand in thwarting this?)
Remember PH was definitely not furious from an ethical point of view, we can easily ascertain this from his horrendous plan with Ty (that failed when put to the BOD) to purchase Dan Gertler debt and use it to try strong-arm the DRC Govt.
I wonder?
This information needs to trickle down to the locals in Manono. Pictures of the locals/Police expelling Zijin from the mine precinct would be gold plated!!
Massive win at ICC has trickled into ICSID, where the ICSID tribunal has taken notice of the measures that have been handed down:
ICSID has noted the following in OP2 (procedural order 2):
These are provisional at the moment with a hearing set for December 11 to hear the case and make these enforceable - exepcting a verdict before Christmas.
- Suspend all work for PR 13359 and PR 15775 for entities other than Dathcom - so Manono lithium, Z and C can all fuck right off.
- DRC (all ministerial departments, government authorities) to be restricted from taking any actions on the above-mentioned permits.
Any guesses on his source?
nickmckenzie@protonmail.com
With someone with so many awards just maybe he might be receptive of the analysis thus far on MMGA?
TDITD
Top 20
For shits and giggles I just went to the Fasken page, an what did I see but this
Fasken Named “Mergers and Acquisitions Law Firm of the Year” in the 2024 Best Lawyers in Canada Guide
Hmmmmm is this why Zijin went with them. Are they after that Acquisition of AVZ
(FIRB I know, just found it amusing)I get what you're saying, and I immediately had the same thoughts, but Fasken can't really do that. They are an international company with a reputation (lawyers I know) to uphold, also they would be bound by codes of conducts and governed by rules and regulations.
Zijin however will be twisting everything they possibly can, via Cominiere, but at the ICSID level they are surely but a mosquito.
Carlos Danger
Top 20
Nick McKenzie is an absolute fucking drop kickView attachment 50189
Any guesses on his source?
View attachment 50190
nickmckenzie@protonmail.com
With someone with so many awards just maybe he might be receptive of the analysis thus far on MMGA?
One of the dumbest 'journalists' going around
AFR and The Age are both owned by channel 9. Story was clearly handballed to the dude with more rep to try and give it credibility.
The world bank news item is not new news.
World Bank suspends $1 billion worth of project funding in ...
Reuters
https://www.reuters.com › world › africa › world-bank-...
16 May 2023 — The World Bank has suspended funding for humanitarian and development projects in Democratic Republic of Congo worth more than $1 billion ...
9cardomaha
Regular
Fasken have been known to win the unwinnable - they repped CMOC in that case against DRC.... But they haven't always been Chinese stooges, they repped FQ against the DRC and proved collusion which was insane.
Unfortunately, they probably also know how to 'hide' collusion.
Their ability to spin verdicts and hoodwink the DRC can only last for so long - once we get favourable verdicts and start knocking on doors for payment, it'll become very real very fast.
Samus
Top 20
Fine
Australian miner’s plan to pour millions into pocket of Congo middleman
An Australian company offered to pay up to $US6 million ($9 million) to a middleman as part of a plan to win backing from an African spymaster, president, first lady and other high-ranking foreign officials in a fierce battle with Chinese interests over one of the world’s biggest lithium deposits.
The backroom efforts of ASX-listed AVZ Minerals to secure the support in the notoriously corrupt Democratic Republic of Congo are detailed in confidential company files obtained by this masthead.
Marius Mihigo (L) with President Felix Tshisekedi.
In one company briefing, AVZ chief executive Nigel Ferguson highlighted the influence of the middleman, Marius Mihigo, by stating it was “expected” he would become the DRC’s prime minister “at some stage”.
In another file, Ferguson defended wiring Mihigo an urgent $US1 million upfront payment without board approval by explaining how Mihigo could impose “his will” on unnamed Congolese figures involved in the Australian company’s fight to win the rights to mine lithium at the highly prospective Manono tenement.
The leaked company files suggest Ferguson offered to pay Mihigo a total of up to $US6 million, including a $US5 million success fee, without adequate due diligence or anti-corruption controls.
The success fee was never paid after the AVZ board amended Mihigo’s deal on advice from lawyers that it could expose the company to potential breaches of corporations laws. The company’s lawyers, DLA Piper, warned it was not clear that reasonable and appropriate due diligence was done during AVZ’s initial dealings with Mihigo.
DLA Piper’s lawyers also directed AVZ to “immediately adopt” a strengthened anti-corruption policy and to make sure Mihigo did the same.
Ferguson declined an interview request, while the company insisted it had conducted appropriate due diligence and reviews had identified no material probity issues.
The leaked files separately open a rare window into the fierce struggle between western and Chinese companies to control potentially the world’s largest untapped deposit of lithium, a critical mineral that has stoked tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Since May 2022, when AVZ was suspended from trading over disclosure concerns, more than 20,000 Australian retail investors have held shares with a paper value of nearly $2.7 billion. AVZ is due to hold its annual shareholder meeting in Perth on Thursday, where the company will be under intense scrutiny.
Transparency International’s Clancy Moore said AVZ’s arrangements with Mihigo were “absolutely shocking”.
AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson.CREDIT:YOUTUBE
Moore noted that negligible due diligence was initially done by AVZ when it made the $US1 million payment and that AVZ’s advisers confidentially told the company that a “top-notch” lobbying firm could have been hired in the DRC for around $100,000.
“Given the scale of the monies offered to the middleman, we would expect regulators to review this matter without delay,” Moore said.
This masthead is not suggesting Ferguson or Mihigo paid any bribes, only that the company’s conduct created a major corruption risk, given the inadequate due diligence that occurred. It is also not suggested that any benefits were paid to DRC officials who met Mihigo.
Ferguson detailed his decision to pay Mihigo in confidential briefing notes he sent his fellow AVZ board members in June 2022.
Ferguson noted that he had met Mihigo to workshop how to get things “done for us” in mid-2022 by “using contacts between MM… and PR05 [the DRC President Felix Tshisekedi] and PW05 [the first lady].”
Ferguson also wrote that in addition to the DRC president and his wife, Mihigo was to help obtain the backing of other “key players for us moving forward with the power to assist”, before listing those players as the chief of the DRC’s domestic spy agency and the minister of finance.
In another note describing a second meeting with Mihigo, Ferguson described his “detailed plan of attack”. It involved Mihigo attending “meetings with PR05 [President Tshisekedi]” as well as the country’s intelligence chief, finance minister and the president’s brother.
Next, Ferguson said he planned to personally brief the president, spy chief and finance minister in a “one-hour meeting with each”.
The town of Manono in the Democratic Republic of Congo.CREDIT:WIKICOMMONS
This would enable Ferguson to “appraise of them of the misinformation circulating” from AVZ’s Chinese rivals, whom AVZ blamed for blocking its access to top DRC officials while sabotaging its African operations. It would allow the company to convince the president of “the clear and professional intentions of AVZ”, Ferguson wrote.
Ferguson planned to stay in the DRC for at least three more days “to allow for several potential follow-up meetings with [the president]” and other officials “to provide more comfort to officials around our intentions for the project and the country.”
A leaked letter written by Mihigo to AVZ states the “president requested specifically to keep confidential the conversation” he had with the Australian firm’s middleman.
Ferguson told his fellow directors he had already instructed AVZ to wire a “once off signature fee/retainer of US$1 million” to Mihigo.
“This is to include all expenses, travel, accommodation and personnel (up to 10) he requires to complete the tasks” over 12 months, Ferguson wrote.
If Mihigo delivered to AVZ the mining project and other government support, “a bonus of US$5m has been agreed to be paid in a mixture of cash and shares and only paid in stages”.
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The leaked documents reveal Mihigo’s hiring caused a furious response from director Peter Huljich, with the board ordering an urgent investigation by US private investigation firm Veracity.
Veracity’s inquiry not only warned of the bribery risks faced by AVZ from operating in the DRC but that Mihigo “appears to be receiving a fee that is well above market rate for his services”.
“While research has uncovered no clear indications of Mihigo’s involvement in corrupt dealings, it would not be unusual in the Congolese context for some portion of his fee to be used for bribes,” Veracity wrote. It also noted that Mihigo had “ties” to a former DRC presidential adviser “arrested on corruption charges” and a second former official “currently on trial for involvement in an alleged coup plot”.
Ferguson defended the upfront payment to Mihigo, saying he had already intervened to protect AVZ’s interests in a matter involving the DRC’s “national security” agency.
“That’s directly as a result of Marius [Mihigo] calling the people in question and imposing his will,” Ferguson wrote, adding: “We are confident that this [paying Mihigo] will produce results.”
At this time, the Australian miner was contesting not only Chinese companies it accused of acting corruptly, but lobbying from Chinese Communist Party officials.
One memo details how President Tshisekedi had discussed the intervention of “the ambassador of China” to “convince” him to side with AVZ’s Chinese commercial rivals.
A leaked strategy plan describes how AVZ sought to counter this with “US political assistance” and by using “3rd party assistance to promote project to US state [United States] as a critical project for Battery Minerals Supply Chain”.
AVZ’s lawyers, DLA Piper, told the board that if it had not redrawn the agreement with Mihigo and updated its anti-bribery and corruption policy, there would have been “unavoidable questions” about breaches of officeholder duties.
The firm said it was “critical” that the refashioned agreement and new anti-bribery and corruption policy were adopted and enforced by the board.
Transparency International’s Moore said AVZ’s dealings in Congo without appropriate care cast a dark shadow over the company.
“[Congo] is one of the world’s most corrupt countries and its mining sector is possibly the most corrupt prone globally,” he said.
“For an ASX-listed company to hand over a million dollars to a connected middleman [without appropriate controls] is absolutely shocking conduct.”
He said geopolitical competition for critical minerals like lithium was creating increased corruption risks.
In a statement, AVZ Minerals claimed Mihigo had proposed the bonus fee, which the board “unanimously rejected”.
The company also insisted it had conducted appropriate due diligence into Mihigo, including asking the Australian embassy in Zimbabwe about him.
“The company does not agree with your characterisation of the conduct of the company and its officers and employees,” it said.
“The company has never committed any act of bribery or corruption and has taken all practicable steps to ensure that its personnel and advisers/consultants have at all times abided by its anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy and applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws.”
TDITD
Top 20
LOCKY82
Regular
Fucking parasites! Journos only want the drama story even if it's fucking over an Australian company! It's incredible nobody's covered the progress of icc or the snakes mmga and Leonard Meth head and the likes!
You'd have to wonder where we'd be without platforms like X to get the word out from people close to all the shenanigans wether that's some shareholders here who have done outstanding work or independent journalists or truth seekers shining a light internationally on the absolute cunts!
Good luck tomorrow lads and lassies! Comon AVZ
Carlos Danger
Top 20
This interview and story was an embarrassment to Australia. Yet somehow it won a 'journalism' award despite none of it being true lmaoFucking parasites! Journos only want the drama story even if it's fucking over an Australian company! It's incredible nobody's covered the progress of icc or the snakes mmga and Leonard Meth head and the likes!
You'd have to wonder where we'd be without platforms like X to get the word out from people close to all the shenanigans wether that's some shareholders here who have done outstanding work or independent journalists or truth seekers shining a light internationally on the absolute cunts!
Good luck tomorrow lads and lassies! Comon AVZ
This isn't McKenzie's only humiliation in a court of law but timing is perfect
If you step to the Schiff lord you best not miss
LOCKY82
Regular
Excellent I'll post that straight to x
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