British Mining Firm Camec Comes Under Fire for Direct Aid to Mugabe's Government

Brian Latham at Bloomberg.com reports an interview with the MDC's Roy Bennett in which Bennett suggested that mining contracts granted by Mugabe's government to the London-based mining company, CAMEC, may need to be reviewed and investigated.

Latham writes:

"Permits that may be re-tendered or canceled because of links to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front include those awarded to Central African Mining & Exploration Co., Bennett said in a telephone interview today from Johannesburg, South Africa. The MDC's plans were reported by the Financial Times earlier today.

``There is a tangle of business intrigues involving foreign and local companies tied to Zanu-PF, Camec among them,'' Bennett said. ``All these need to be investigated thoroughly and where wrong-doing or corruption are found, we'll cancel contracts and re-tender them legally.''

Camec in April agreed to pay $120 million for a stake in a platinum venture part owned by Zimbabwe's state-owned mining company and said it would lend a further $100 million to President Robert Mugabe's government. The southern African nation has the world's second-biggest platinum reserves, after South Africa.

Ben Brewerton, a spokesman in London for Camec, said that while the company wouldn't respond directly to Bennett's comments, its activities in Zimbabwe are in full compliance with all relevant national and international laws.

``Camec believes that making early stage investments in countries which are in transition is the best way to help the people of Africa while also generating shareholder value,'' Brewerton said in an e-mailed statement. "


The timing of Camec's payments, in April during the run-off campaign and during the intense political violence against the opposition shows the extent to which international mining concerns are competing for access to Zimbabwe's platinum. Worried about China's ability to gain favor through arms shipments and "no questions asked" loans, these British and South African mining companies are willing to make substantial payments directly to the ZANU-PF regime.

Camec has been involved in negotiations with the government in the DRC for mining rights, and like most mining companies in Southern Africa, know how to play the political game. In August 2007, they were involved in a tussle over DRC mining contracts. See article in the Independent [UK] by Danny Forston.

One might wonder why the MDC's Roy Bennett is talking to the Press about renegotiating mining contracts, given the MDC's bargaining position at the moment. Unless there is the hope that mining companies will help finance the MDC as a hedge against a possible future GNU? If the MDC does receive funds from international mining concerns it would raise the interesting question: Could ZANU-PF criticize them as "imperialists" and "sell-outs" if both parties receive funds from the same sources?

Even as the economy is a nightmare for the majority of Zimbabweans, the ruling elite has access to large amounts of dollars and no shortage of sources. Targeting sanctions to these individuals may make it more difficult to stash money abroad, but it doesn't make it impossible. For example, re-investing such monies in DRC mining concessions gained during Zimbabwe's defense of Kabila Senior and Junior during the Congo wars is one way to keep it out of Western banks. There are no shortage of ways to hide and/or invest money in the "shadow economies of war".