9cardomaha
Regular
Edit: yeah man all good, just keeping it real. call it like i see it but no hard feelings ya know
Last edited:
AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
- Start date
Edit: yeah man all good, just keeping it real. call it like i see it but no hard feelings ya know
Samus
Top 20
Moise Katumbi, the Devil the Democratic Republic of Congo Doesn't Want
By Brian Smith
Kleptocracy is a problem that plagues developing nations (in fairness, the first world is not immune either). Governments' interests are supposed to lie in the betterment of their people, not its leaders. When officials place their individual gain over the collective good, fraudulent priorities and illicit behavior drive government's action. This results in poor services for a nation's citizens. Scarce dollars available for infrastructure projects such as sewage and irrigation systems, roads maintenance, school construction and other public works are delayed or diverted to line leaders' own pockets.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the self-exiled kleptocrat and presidential aspirant Moisé Katumbi knows this all too well. As the Governor the mineral-rich Katanga Province, Katumbi gained great material wealth while he engaged in corrupt schemes to avoid taxes, export duties that would help develop the country he pretends to love. But in Katumbi's mind, DRC has always been for sale. More than 40 years ago, the bloody Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko hand-picked the Katumbi family to be part of the ruling class. In his quest to maintain power, Mobutu worked to control strategic assets and industries—and the Katumbi family was in the fisheries and shipping business. After all, food and logistics are both very important everywhere, but more so in the developing world. From there, Moisé Katumbi spent years being educated around the world—learning about $5,000 suits and private jets. Rather than live the life of a patriot and invest in civil society, Moisé Katumbi has chosen the path of self-enrichment at every opportunity. It's no wonder Katumbi believes the DRC is for sale.
Profiting off of government connections runs in the Katumbi family. Raphael Soriano, Moise Katumbi's brother, was hired by the government of Zambia to represent the country during a $100 million arms and equipment contract negotiation. Soriano was given wide discretion by the Zambian government to secure the deal, and arranged a lucrative fee for himself as the middleman. Funds were deposited into a foreign bank account that belonged to Katumbi's wife, Betti. After payment was made but goods failed to be delivered, Zambian officials realized $20 million was siphoned off by Soriano. Zambia's Attorney General sued Katumbi's wife and his half-brother for restitution, accusing them of laundering the $20 million in a phony arms deal.
Despite having scammed Zambia already, Soriano and Katumbi were recently involved in another corrupt arms deal with Zambia. Despite its precarious fiscal condition, Zambian President Edgar Lungu put off urgent government projects to quickly find the money for the deal.
Soriano also stands to gain billions from a lucrative deal with the Angolan government which just awarded him a budget of $60 billion to build nearly 600,000 homes.
Last year Katumbi was fined $6 million by a Congolese court for profiting off of a questionable real estate deal. As Katumbi angles to return to the Congo and run for president, perhaps his promise of higher wages and economic opportunity is for himself and his family, not the Congolese people.
www.washingtontimes.com
By Brian Smith
Kleptocracy is a problem that plagues developing nations (in fairness, the first world is not immune either). Governments' interests are supposed to lie in the betterment of their people, not its leaders. When officials place their individual gain over the collective good, fraudulent priorities and illicit behavior drive government's action. This results in poor services for a nation's citizens. Scarce dollars available for infrastructure projects such as sewage and irrigation systems, roads maintenance, school construction and other public works are delayed or diverted to line leaders' own pockets.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the self-exiled kleptocrat and presidential aspirant Moisé Katumbi knows this all too well. As the Governor the mineral-rich Katanga Province, Katumbi gained great material wealth while he engaged in corrupt schemes to avoid taxes, export duties that would help develop the country he pretends to love. But in Katumbi's mind, DRC has always been for sale. More than 40 years ago, the bloody Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko hand-picked the Katumbi family to be part of the ruling class. In his quest to maintain power, Mobutu worked to control strategic assets and industries—and the Katumbi family was in the fisheries and shipping business. After all, food and logistics are both very important everywhere, but more so in the developing world. From there, Moisé Katumbi spent years being educated around the world—learning about $5,000 suits and private jets. Rather than live the life of a patriot and invest in civil society, Moisé Katumbi has chosen the path of self-enrichment at every opportunity. It's no wonder Katumbi believes the DRC is for sale.
Profiting off of government connections runs in the Katumbi family. Raphael Soriano, Moise Katumbi's brother, was hired by the government of Zambia to represent the country during a $100 million arms and equipment contract negotiation. Soriano was given wide discretion by the Zambian government to secure the deal, and arranged a lucrative fee for himself as the middleman. Funds were deposited into a foreign bank account that belonged to Katumbi's wife, Betti. After payment was made but goods failed to be delivered, Zambian officials realized $20 million was siphoned off by Soriano. Zambia's Attorney General sued Katumbi's wife and his half-brother for restitution, accusing them of laundering the $20 million in a phony arms deal.
Despite having scammed Zambia already, Soriano and Katumbi were recently involved in another corrupt arms deal with Zambia. Despite its precarious fiscal condition, Zambian President Edgar Lungu put off urgent government projects to quickly find the money for the deal.
Soriano also stands to gain billions from a lucrative deal with the Angolan government which just awarded him a budget of $60 billion to build nearly 600,000 homes.
Last year Katumbi was fined $6 million by a Congolese court for profiting off of a questionable real estate deal. As Katumbi angles to return to the Congo and run for president, perhaps his promise of higher wages and economic opportunity is for himself and his family, not the Congolese people.
Moise Katumbi, the Devil the Democratic Republic of Congo Doesn't Want
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the self-exiled kleptocrat and presidential aspirant Moisé Katumbi knows this all too well. As the Governor the mineral-rich Katanga Province, Katumbi gained great material wealth while he engaged in corrupt schemes to avoid taxes, export duties that would...
Opposition candidates jostle for position before DRC election
Contenders yet to unite around a single figure who could challenge incumbent Félix TshisekediPatrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 4 Dec 2023 16.30 AEDT
Africa’s fourth most populous country, the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo, goes to the polls in three weeks’ time with a civil war raging, two international peacekeeping forces starting to depart and an EU electoral observers’ mission quitting after the government refused to let them use their own satellite phones.
In a country with a history of stolen elections, the chances of preventing the incumbent president, Félix Tshisekedi, from securing a second five-year term turn on the ability of the diverse opposition to unite around a single credible candidate.
There are 24 candidates in the field, including Denis Mukwege, a Nobel peace prize-winning gynaecologist; Floribert Anzuluni, a banker turned grassroots activist; Aggrey Ngalasi, a pastor; Moïse Katumbi, who was barred from the country to prevent him from standing in the 2018 elections; and Martin Fayulu, a former oil executive from whom the presidency was widely seen to have been stolen in 2018.
There is only one woman in the contest, Marie-Josée Ifoku, who like almost all the candidates promises to tackle a predatory state. Longstanding corruption surrounding diamonds in DRC has expanded into lithium and cobalt, the minerals necessary to power the green energy revolution.
A fragmented opposition in a single first-past-the-post ballot greatly favours the incumbent, so much so that Anzuluni claims 15 of the candidates were “created by the regime”.
He said: “It’s clear amongst the opposition we need to create a coalition, but the coalition has to share the same values and agree on a broad political programme that tackles a system in which the political actors see politics as a profit-making enterprise.”
His consultations with civil society show security is voters’ top concern.
Talks were held in mid-November in Pretoria between a group of leading candidates to see if they could coalesce around a single figure, but so far no consensus exists.
The already fragile hopes that the poll on 20 December will be conducted lawfully were damaged last Tuesday when the EU announced it was withdrawing its 42-strong team of electoral experts. The mission, headed by a leftwing Swedish MEP, Malin Björk, had been seeking to bring in their own communications equipment and phones but the government said this breached a protocol.
Six of the leading opposition candidates had already complained about the proximity of the independent national electoral commission to Tshisekedi, as well as about delays in publishing voter rolls, a mass of defective identification cards, and a lack of police protection for their campaigns.
The commission is committed to publishing the results of the vote, polling station by polling station, a step that will make it easier for party election agents and a politically activist Catholic church to monitor the tallying process.
Voters have good reasons to be suspicious.
In the 2018 elections, an enthusiastic civil society seemed to have grabbed a chance to end the corruption by overwhelmingly rejecting the former president Joseph Kabila’s handpicked successor, Tshisekedi, and instead backing Fayulu.
However, after an apparent deal with Kabila, Tshisekedi was pronounced the winner. Fayalu’s efforts to declare the result invalid were fruitless.
The latest presidential election and local elections take place against the background of a surge in fighting in the east of the country, appalling exploitation in lucrative copper and cobalt mines and the imminent departure of two peacekeeping forces – the 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping operation Monuscu and a seven-nation East African Community force.
The EAC mandate is due to expire on Friday, barely a year after the force arrived on its first military intervention, leaving a potentially dangerous security vacuum. The first Kenyan forces in the EAC mission flew out of Goma at the weekend. Monuscu will be gone early in 2024.
Tshisekedi complained that the EAC was not acting on its mandate to force the armed groups present in the east, including the March 23 group, to lay down their arms. DRC is convinced that the M23 is funded and armed by Rwanda. Human Rights Watch has accused the M23 of numerous war crimes and has called for the organisation and any backers in Rwanda to be put on a UN sanctions list.
Fayalu and Katumbi are drawing probably the larger crowds among the contenders, but it is not clear if they would be allowed to win, or even if the elections will go ahead.
Remark
Top 20
Kiki Kienge
@KiengeKki
2h
#MinesRDC
#Manonolithium
"You have to know that we from @IgfRdc, if we publish a report, we must believe since we are the truth. The question of the #COMINIERE, it is a group of incorrigible financial offenders." @ALINGETEJULES_K
@Presidence_RDC
View attachment 51460
Interesting writeup on the past, present and future of AVZ Minerals
A Deep Dive into AVZ Minerals: The Company Strategy and Legal Challenges
A Deep Dive into AVZ Minerals: The Company Strategy and Legal Challenges
great its been called out but seemingly no one cares, its all meaningless talk. Jules seems to be fighting the good fight but fmd he seems to be the one of the very few and is toothless so nothing happens.Kiki Kienge
@KiengeKki
2h
#MinesRDC
#Manonolithium
"You have to know that we from @IgfRdc, if we publish a report, we must believe since we are the truth. The question of the #COMINIERE, it is a group of incorrigible financial offenders." @ALINGETEJULES_K
@Presidence_RDC
View attachment 51460
CashKing
Regular
That’s a bit sus mate, Even the few comments plus wtf is with
“AVZ Minerals - Stepping Forward
Story Continues.. after this ad because we need some dollarydoos”
Have MMGA started up another great idea
Tommy must have sucked a few cocks sounds like he’s type of “Journalism”
GLTAH
Carlos Danger
Top 20
The entire thing is just rearranged parts of AVZ announcements. It was defo written by AI.That’s a bit sus mate, Even the few comments plus wtf is with
“AVZ Minerals - Stepping Forward
Story Continues.. after this ad because we need some dollarydoos”
Have MMGA started up another great idea
Tommy must have sucked a few cocks sounds like he’s type of “Journalism”
GLTAH
An interesting watch re: lithium pricing, EV volumes, Lithium inventory and future Lithium pricing.
Lithium trends, inventory and pricing.
Lithium trends, inventory and pricing.
Samus
Top 20
#MinesRDC #Manonolithium "You have to know that we from the @IgfRdc, if we publish a report, you have to believe it since we are the truth. The question of the #COMINIERE , it is about a group of incorrigible financial delinquents.." @ALINGETEJULES_K
@Presidence_RDC
Great watch cheers
What a dreamer so who do you want to run the DRC...I thought you said FELIX was good ...lol Now he doesn't suit your AGENDA..?
DRC’s stalled Manono project: shell companies profit while Congolese citizens wait for change
DRC is home to what some believe to be the world’s biggest lithium deposit. The estimated 6.6 million tons of lithium in the earth around the remote town of Manono could transform its economic fortunes and place it at the forefront of the green energy revolution.Efforts to develop the Manono-Kitotolo mine have been bogged down in an ownership dispute over the mining license between Australian-listed AVZ Minerals and the Chinese conglomerate Zijin Mining. The project has been the subject of numerous legal proceedings, accusations of foul play and an investigation by DRC’s state anti-corruption agency. Five years after lithium deposits were confirmed at Manono the project seems to be far from producing the lithium needed to help power the EV revolution, nor much closer to paying mining royalties to DRC’s cash-strapped government.
Meanwhile AVZ Minerals has seen its stock tumble because of troubles over the Manono project. Its share price plummeted by 40% in little over a month before the company voluntarily suspended trading in May 2022. The suspension remains in place.
AVZ first acquired a stake in the Manono project in 2017, striking a deal to acquire a controlling 60% of the Manono joint venture. The Congolese state-owned company COMINIERE meanwhile retained 30% of the project, with the remainder owned by a mysterious company called Dathomir Mining Resources.
AVZ also signed deals with some of the biggest players in the Chinese battery metals sector. It entered a “strategic relationship” with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, one of the world's top battery materials producers. AVZ also made an agreement with CATH, a subsidiary of the Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) – the world’s biggest EV battery producer – to supply them with 50% of the mine’s lithium. The deal involved CATH buying a 24% stake in the joint venture from AVZ.
But in 2021 COMINIERE agreed to sell a chunk of its shares in the venture to Chinese mining giant Zijin. AVZ says that it had the ‘rights of first refusal’ in the event that COMINIERE decided to sell any of its shares in the project. With AVZ having already agreed to sell 24% of the project to CATH, and an agreement with Dathomir to buy its remaining joint venture shares being challenged in a DRC court, the Australian firm’s majority control over the project was now in question. Zijin meanwhile says it is the legitimate owner of 15% of the project.
The controversy over the stalled project has thrown up several corruption red flags.
An investigation in 2022 by DRC’s state anti-corruption body, the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF), found that Zijin had paid substantially under market value for its shares in the Manono project. It also found that Zijin had paid $1.6 million to a consultancy firm called Focus Plaidoirie in ‘commission’ as part of the deal. Focus Plaidoirie is reportedly owned by Lisette Kabanga, previously deputy secretary in charge of external relations for President Felix Tshisekedi’s political party, and an aide to the president’s security advisor. Paying such a large ‘commission’ to a politically connected aide as part of a mining deal would appear to be a classic corruption red flag.
The IGF report into COMINIERE was also highly critical of the state-owned mining company. It found that the $33 million received from Zijin Mining was “squandered”, noting that COMINIERE’s coffers were “almost empty”. COMINIERE was engaged in a “veritable cut-price sell-off of the mineral heritage of the state” the report concluded.
AVZ meanwhile made headlines in 2022 following media reports that its CEO was reportedly proposing to pay $6m in cash and shares to a politically well-connected Congolese middleman who it hired as a consultant to help secure a positive outcome in its struggle to secure the Manono mining licence. The payment was eventually vetoed by AVZ’s board amid concerns over potential corruption. When contacted by Global Witness AVZ said that before appointing the consultant it “carried out appropriate independent due diligence […] which disclosed no material probity issues or red flags,” adding that the consultant was required to abide by AVZ’s anti-bribery policy.
Perhaps most alarmingly of all, the deals through which AVZ acquired control of the mining permit appear to have generated as much as $28 million for Dathomir Mining Resources, a mysterious shell company seemingly named after a planet in a Star Wars movie. Dathomir had acquired control of the Manono project in 2016, striking a deal with COMINIERE in which it agreed to make a US$6 million initial payment to the state-owned mining firm in instalments. But before it had to make this payment Dathomir, within two months, struck a deal with AVZ in which the Australian firm acquired 60% of the Manono project, agreeing to take on responsibility for paying the US$6m that was owed to COMINIERE.
As part of the deal AVZ also paid Dathomir US$750,000 in cash and gave it shares in AVZ that – when Dathomir sold them in April 2019 – were worth approximately US$6.8 million dollars. AVZ also subsequently reported to shareholders that it had acquired a further 15% stake in the project from Dathomir in exchange for US$20.5m.
So it seems that Dathomir Resources – a company without a well-known track record of running any actual mining projects – had acquired the Manono project for next to nothing. Although it promised to finance the development of the project, instead within two months it sold on most of its stake in the joint venture generating millions of dollars in cash and AVZ shares, seemingly for doing almost nothing to develop the mine. But who were Dathomir’s owners?
Dathomir Resources – a DRC registered company – is managed by Cong Maohuai, well-known in DRC mining circles as Simon Cong. Sometimes referred to in media reports as the “godfather” of Chinese mining deals, Cong was also the owner of firms involved in managing DRC’s lucrative toll roads. These companies were accused in 2021 of having transferred millions of dollars to Congo Construction Company (CCC). According to a Bloomberg investigation, “Over a five-year period, tens of millions of dollars flowed through CCC’s accounts to people and companies closely associated with Congo’s then-president, Joseph Kabila.”
A report by Boatman Capital Research indicates that Dathomir Mining Resources was 80% owned by Dathomir International Corporation, a company incorporated in the Seychelles. Cong told Global Witness in 2021 “I am the ultimate beneficial owner of Dathomir International Corporation”. Cong is also named on documents as the manager of Dathomir Resources.
ARTISIANAL MINERS WORKING IN MANONO DRC CREDIT: JACK WOLFE, NEW LINES MAGAZINE.
According to Boatman Capital, the other 20% of Dathomir Resources was held by Guy Loando and his family. Loando also represented Dathomir Resources on the board of AVZ from 2017 to 2019. A Kinshasa lawyer who has described Simon Cong as his ”mentor”, Loando became a DRC senator in 2019 and currently serves as a minister in DRC’s government. In 2012 Loando helped set up Congo Construction Company (CCC), a firm that reportedly funnelled millions of dollars from a major Chinese mining project to the family and associates of then President Kabila. Loando held a 20% stake in CCC until 2017. According to anti-corruption NGO The Sentry, “CCC’s role [had] all the hallmarks of a massive bribery scheme.”
So the Manono project’s giant lithium deposit may have generated as much as $28 million dollars for mysterious shell companies controlled by controversial dealmakers. But it has so far produced relatively little for DRC’s treasury. According to the most recent EITI report for DRC, which covers 2021 and 2022, the Manono joint venture company paid less than US$260,000 to DRC’s treasury in taxes over the two years. Until the Manono mine starts to produce lithium and therefore pay mining royalties, the taxes it generates for DRC are likely to remain negligible.
Global Witness contacted AVZ, Cong Mao Huai and Guy Loando prior to publication. Mr Mao Huai and Mr Loando did not respond. AVZ’s response can be read in full here. In earlier correspondence with Global Witness in 2021, available in full here, AVZ said “prior to investing in the Manono Project, AVZ engaged in due diligence of relevant corporations and individuals […] Our due diligence did not reveal any inappropriate links between individuals involved in the Manono Project and [President] Joseph Kabila Kabange nor any members of his family.”
The future of the Manono lithium project – potentially Africa’s biggest – remains shrouded in uncertainty. In January 2023 DRC’s mines minister refused to convert the AVZ project’s exploration license to an operating licence that would allow mining to begin. The minister noted “persistent conflicts, recurring disagreements between shareholders and the project being held hostage” as the reason for not granting the license. The Manono mining permit was reattributed back to COMINIERE and in October 2023 the permit was cut in two and the north-eastern section granted to a new joint venture company controlled by Zijin Mining and COMINIERE. AVZ has publicly criticized this move as lacking “any legal foundation.” When contacted by Global Witness prior to publication, AVZ said it “believes Jin Cheng [Zijin’s subsidiary], Dathomir and Cominière are acting in concert to crystalise disputes with AVZ and disrupt and delay the development of the Manono Project with the aim of seizing control.” AVZ also stressed that it is multiple arbitration processes with these three companies. AVZ’s response can be read in full here.
DRC’s mammoth lithium deposit is still at least two years away from producing lithium. Poor governance, corruption and investors’ willingness to turn a blind eye to red flags have all seemingly played a role in the stalling of the project. Meanwhile the population of Manono – and DRC’s treasury – are still waiting for lithium to bring them some tangible benefits.
'investors’ willingness to turn a blind eye to red flags have all seemingly played a role in the stalling of the project'DRC’s stalled Manono project: shell companies profit while Congolese citizens wait for change
DRC is home to what some believe to be the world’s biggest lithium deposit. The estimated 6.6 million tons of lithium in the earth around the remote town of Manono could transform its economic fortunes and place it at the forefront of the green energy revolution.
Efforts to develop the Manono-Kitotolo mine have been bogged down in an ownership dispute over the mining license between Australian-listed AVZ Minerals and the Chinese conglomerate Zijin Mining. The project has been the subject of numerous legal proceedings, accusations of foul play and an investigation by DRC’s state anti-corruption agency. Five years after lithium deposits were confirmed at Manono the project seems to be far from producing the lithium needed to help power the EV revolution, nor much closer to paying mining royalties to DRC’s cash-strapped government.
Meanwhile AVZ Minerals has seen its stock tumble because of troubles over the Manono project. Its share price plummeted by 40% in little over a month before the company voluntarily suspended trading in May 2022. The suspension remains in place.
AVZ first acquired a stake in the Manono project in 2017, striking a deal to acquire a controlling 60% of the Manono joint venture. The Congolese state-owned company COMINIERE meanwhile retained 30% of the project, with the remainder owned by a mysterious company called Dathomir Mining Resources.
AVZ also signed deals with some of the biggest players in the Chinese battery metals sector. It entered a “strategic relationship” with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, one of the world's top battery materials producers. AVZ also made an agreement with CATH, a subsidiary of the Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) – the world’s biggest EV battery producer – to supply them with 50% of the mine’s lithium. The deal involved CATH buying a 24% stake in the joint venture from AVZ.
But in 2021 COMINIERE agreed to sell a chunk of its shares in the venture to Chinese mining giant Zijin. AVZ says that it had the ‘rights of first refusal’ in the event that COMINIERE decided to sell any of its shares in the project. With AVZ having already agreed to sell 24% of the project to CATH, and an agreement with Dathomir to buy its remaining joint venture shares being challenged in a DRC court, the Australian firm’s majority control over the project was now in question. Zijin meanwhile says it is the legitimate owner of 15% of the project.
The controversy over the stalled project has thrown up several corruption red flags.
An investigation in 2022 by DRC’s state anti-corruption body, the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF), found that Zijin had paid substantially under market value for its shares in the Manono project. It also found that Zijin had paid $1.6 million to a consultancy firm called Focus Plaidoirie in ‘commission’ as part of the deal. Focus Plaidoirie is reportedly owned by Lisette Kabanga, previously deputy secretary in charge of external relations for President Felix Tshisekedi’s political party, and an aide to the president’s security advisor. Paying such a large ‘commission’ to a politically connected aide as part of a mining deal would appear to be a classic corruption red flag.
The IGF report into COMINIERE was also highly critical of the state-owned mining company. It found that the $33 million received from Zijin Mining was “squandered”, noting that COMINIERE’s coffers were “almost empty”. COMINIERE was engaged in a “veritable cut-price sell-off of the mineral heritage of the state” the report concluded.
AVZ meanwhile made headlines in 2022 following media reports that its CEO was reportedly proposing to pay $6m in cash and shares to a politically well-connected Congolese middleman who it hired as a consultant to help secure a positive outcome in its struggle to secure the Manono mining licence. The payment was eventually vetoed by AVZ’s board amid concerns over potential corruption. When contacted by Global Witness AVZ said that before appointing the consultant it “carried out appropriate independent due diligence […] which disclosed no material probity issues or red flags,” adding that the consultant was required to abide by AVZ’s anti-bribery policy.
Perhaps most alarmingly of all, the deals through which AVZ acquired control of the mining permit appear to have generated as much as $28 million for Dathomir Mining Resources, a mysterious shell company seemingly named after a planet in a Star Wars movie. Dathomir had acquired control of the Manono project in 2016, striking a deal with COMINIERE in which it agreed to make a US$6 million initial payment to the state-owned mining firm in instalments. But before it had to make this payment Dathomir, within two months, struck a deal with AVZ in which the Australian firm acquired 60% of the Manono project, agreeing to take on responsibility for paying the US$6m that was owed to COMINIERE.
As part of the deal AVZ also paid Dathomir US$750,000 in cash and gave it shares in AVZ that – when Dathomir sold them in April 2019 – were worth approximately US$6.8 million dollars. AVZ also subsequently reported to shareholders that it had acquired a further 15% stake in the project from Dathomir in exchange for US$20.5m.
So it seems that Dathomir Resources – a company without a well-known track record of running any actual mining projects – had acquired the Manono project for next to nothing. Although it promised to finance the development of the project, instead within two months it sold on most of its stake in the joint venture generating millions of dollars in cash and AVZ shares, seemingly for doing almost nothing to develop the mine. But who were Dathomir’s owners?
Dathomir Resources – a DRC registered company – is managed by Cong Maohuai, well-known in DRC mining circles as Simon Cong. Sometimes referred to in media reports as the “godfather” of Chinese mining deals, Cong was also the owner of firms involved in managing DRC’s lucrative toll roads. These companies were accused in 2021 of having transferred millions of dollars to Congo Construction Company (CCC). According to a Bloomberg investigation, “Over a five-year period, tens of millions of dollars flowed through CCC’s accounts to people and companies closely associated with Congo’s then-president, Joseph Kabila.”
A report by Boatman Capital Research indicates that Dathomir Mining Resources was 80% owned by Dathomir International Corporation, a company incorporated in the Seychelles. Cong told Global Witness in 2021 “I am the ultimate beneficial owner of Dathomir International Corporation”. Cong is also named on documents as the manager of Dathomir Resources.
ARTISIANAL MINERS WORKING IN MANONO DRC CREDIT: JACK WOLFE, NEW LINES MAGAZINE.
According to Boatman Capital, the other 20% of Dathomir Resources was held by Guy Loando and his family. Loando also represented Dathomir Resources on the board of AVZ from 2017 to 2019. A Kinshasa lawyer who has described Simon Cong as his ”mentor”, Loando became a DRC senator in 2019 and currently serves as a minister in DRC’s government. In 2012 Loando helped set up Congo Construction Company (CCC), a firm that reportedly funnelled millions of dollars from a major Chinese mining project to the family and associates of then President Kabila. Loando held a 20% stake in CCC until 2017. According to anti-corruption NGO The Sentry, “CCC’s role [had] all the hallmarks of a massive bribery scheme.”
So the Manono project’s giant lithium deposit may have generated as much as $28 million dollars for mysterious shell companies controlled by controversial dealmakers. But it has so far produced relatively little for DRC’s treasury. According to the most recent EITI report for DRC, which covers 2021 and 2022, the Manono joint venture company paid less than US$260,000 to DRC’s treasury in taxes over the two years. Until the Manono mine starts to produce lithium and therefore pay mining royalties, the taxes it generates for DRC are likely to remain negligible.
Global Witness contacted AVZ, Cong Mao Huai and Guy Loando prior to publication. Mr Mao Huai and Mr Loando did not respond. AVZ’s response can be read in full here. In earlier correspondence with Global Witness in 2021, available in full here, AVZ said “prior to investing in the Manono Project, AVZ engaged in due diligence of relevant corporations and individuals […] Our due diligence did not reveal any inappropriate links between individuals involved in the Manono Project and [President] Joseph Kabila Kabange nor any members of his family.”
The future of the Manono lithium project – potentially Africa’s biggest – remains shrouded in uncertainty. In January 2023 DRC’s mines minister refused to convert the AVZ project’s exploration license to an operating licence that would allow mining to begin. The minister noted “persistent conflicts, recurring disagreements between shareholders and the project being held hostage” as the reason for not granting the license. The Manono mining permit was reattributed back to COMINIERE and in October 2023 the permit was cut in two and the north-eastern section granted to a new joint venture company controlled by Zijin Mining and COMINIERE. AVZ has publicly criticized this move as lacking “any legal foundation.” When contacted by Global Witness prior to publication, AVZ said it “believes Jin Cheng [Zijin’s subsidiary], Dathomir and Cominière are acting in concert to crystalise disputes with AVZ and disrupt and delay the development of the Manono Project with the aim of seizing control.” AVZ also stressed that it is multiple arbitration processes with these three companies. AVZ’s response can be read in full here.
DRC’s mammoth lithium deposit is still at least two years away from producing lithium. Poor governance, corruption and investors’ willingness to turn a blind eye to red flags have all seemingly played a role in the stalling of the project. Meanwhile the population of Manono – and DRC’s treasury – are still waiting for lithium to bring them some tangible benefits.
How the absolute fuck have investors contributed to the shitfuckery? What a fucked up throw away line and he also quoted Boatman. That'll do me for today
Carlos Danger
Top 20
I thought this was just some weird coincidence. Of all the planets in the galaxy far far away why would anyone pick the home of Darth Maul lmao
Cumquat Cap
Regular
According to boatman, doesn’t sound biased at all
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