Musings From Abroad

UAE’s IHC suspends bid for Vedanta’s copper assets in Zambia. Here’s why

Published

5 months ago

July 3, 2024

The International Resources Holding (IRH) has suspended its offer to purchase a portion of Vedanta Resources Ltd.’s copper mines in Zambia on Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates-based firm cited the breakdown of negotiations over the assets’ valuation.

In April, IRH, a division of the International Holding firm of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the richest firm in the emirate, made a bid to purchase a 51% share in Vedanta’s Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) for more than $1 billion.

After acquiring a 51% share in Mopani Copper Mines in a deal that was finalized in March, it had desired the mines to strengthen its copper presence in Zambia.

IRH, however, stated to Reuters that it was “not currently pursuing the acquisition of a majority stake in the Zambian assets.”

“IRH terminated the transaction discussions two months ago due to discrepancies in valuation,” it added in an emailed statement.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, a larger regional oil giant, are attempting to take part in the shift to renewable energy by securing essential metal supplies from Africa. Vedanta owns 80% of KCM, with the remaining shares held by the Zambian government via the state company ZCCM-IH.

Vedanta Base Metals CEO Chris Griffith revealed to Reuters in June that IRH was one of the investors completing due diligence on the Zambian assets. A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that although IRH was willing to pay nearly twice as much for a larger shareholding,

Vedanta was only willing to sell a minority equity investment of roughly 30%. IRH had offered roughly $1 billion for a 51% stake in KCM. Since they were not authorized to talk in public on the matter, the source chose not to give their name.

After a five-year struggle to reclaim the copper mines and smelter that the former Zambian president Edgar Lungu’s administration had taken control of, Vedanta, owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, finally took back control of KCM late last year. The government had accused the company of neglecting to invest in increasing copper production.

In an attempt to raise the roughly $1.2 billion needed to pay off debts, resurrect operations, and advance the Konkola Deep Mining Project—which is home to one of the world’s richest copper deposits—the miner has been attempting to sell a portion of its ownership in the Zambian copper mines.

“Vedanta remains committed to exploring all funding options – both debt and equity – which are aligned with what we believe is in the best interests of KCM,” a spokesperson said via email.
The spokesperson declined to comment on “any ongoing discussions or negotiations” with potential partners.

Related Topics:Egypt Featured International Resources Holding (IRH)

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Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

9 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.