😈👹😈Kabila Tightens Grip on DRC Cobalt😈👹😈 Kabila cancels Rautenbach deal
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe - angry and remote, unpopular at home and abroad, his army involved in a messy civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and his country out of money and petrol - has been dealt a severe setback in his ambitions to turn his country into a powerful force in African business.
Billy Rautenbach, a Zimbabwean businessman closely linked to Mugabe and his inner circle, was ousted this week from the board of Congo's national mining company and saw his lucrative concessions in central Africa unceremoniously revoked.
The move ends weeks of struggle by Rautenbach against a decision by Congo President Laurent Kabila to wrest back control of Congo's once-mighty copper and cobalt mining giant Gecamines.
On March 14, Frederic Kibassa-Maliba, Congo's minister of mines, cancelled all deals with Rautenbach and his company, Ridgepointe, accusing it of breaking the terms of its agreement and of siphoning off profits to a "fictitious" legal entity.
A spokesperson for Ridgepointe in South Africa denied the charges and said the company would "employ all necessary means to have its rights fully upheld, restored and protected".
Gecamines' Central Mining Group produced 3 000 tons of cobalt last year, more than half the company's total output of the metal, making the venture worth $100-million (about R650-million) a year at current cobalt prices.
While the ouster is bad news for Rautenbach, it is a major blow to Mugabe and the Zimbabwe government, which has viewed its military role in Congo as a trump card for business deals.
Ridgepointe's lucrative development deal was backed by Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's justice minister, in negotiations with the Congolese. And a day before Rautenbach was named head of Gecamines in November 1998, Mugabe himself met Kabila to discuss ways in which Congo could offset the cost of Zimbabwe's military commitment. Zimbabwe has maintained about 13 000 troops inside Congo since the civil war erupted in August 1998 - at a cost of about $30 million a month.
But Zimbabwe hasn't managed to realise the potential of business deals with Kabila. Its reserves of hard currency are virtually nonexistent, more than half the population is unemployed, inflation is 70 percent, foreign investment has been scared off, most international aid has been suspended, and fuel shortages have led to petrol queues in the capital Harare.
Along with the economy, Mugabe's political fortunes have steadily deteriorated. Last month, Zimbabweans defeated a referendum that would have allowed him another term in office. The turmoil has also frayed relations with South Africa, which has seen its appeal to foreign investors tarnished by the tumult next door.
It's not clear how much Kabila will be willing to distance himself from Mugabe. Zimbabwe's military support has been crucial in propping up Kabila and keeping Congo's most prized mineral assets out of rebel hands. Still, many Congolese are resentful of what they view as exploitation of their country's riches by Zimbabwe.
Now that Rautenbach is gone, other deals also appear to be floundering. "It seems that Kabila no longer sees Zimbabwe as a credible long-term ally anymore, because of all Mugabe's problems at home," says Jakkie Potgieter of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa.
https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/kabila-cancels-rautenbach-deal-32729