Robert Mugabe Spokesman makes threats to Shingi Mutasa

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba has threatened Harare businessman Shingai Mutasa for associating with white business partners, particularly those with British links.

President Robert Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba has made racist remarks threatening Mutasa's partners.

Ahead of the landmark announcement of acquisition of BP & Shell assets by TA Holdings Executive Chairman Shingi Mutasa through Masawara plc investment fund on Monday, President Mugabe’s chief spokesman made racist attacks on the businessman and his partners.

The remarks clearly show that Zanu PF’s leadership is riled and is not happy that someone who is not one of the inner circles has not succeeded in securing the BP & Shell lucrative deal.

In his article this Saturday, Charamba as Nathanie Manheru said, “I continue fumbling with my mouse and like an aimless navigator, I bump into another site called “Masawara”. Unlike Branson’s, this one comes in the name of my people’s language. We in Manicaland use the same name to refer to a crow, that one with the dark hue of native Africa, but a noose around its neck which has the whiteness of Europe, Africa’s hangman throughout our short history. That bird is ugly and noisy, always wailing presumably in hoarse and unstoppable protest over its hard fate spelt out by the heavy boot of an approaching hangman! The name is homely – indigenous enough for me to have a presentiment of great and enormous things for my race so buffeted by ill-winds of history.

“I browse through and hiya-a, the name begins to have faces and my heart beats with anticipation. Seven directors all told: David Suratgar, Maureen Eramsus, Shingi Mutasa, Julian Vezey, Francis Daniels, Iqbal Rajahbalee and Jason Harel. I immediately recognise Shingi Mutasa, immediately associating him with Tobacco Africa, T.A. for short; with Sables: that sore structure between Kadoma and Kwekwe so notorious for irreverently puffing white smoke to the high heavens, Almighty God’s footstool. More spectacularly, I link him to Joina Centre: again another vain and pretentious human challenge to the Lord’s demesne! Maureen Erasmus I am told, is a Missus whose birth and girlhood was in “Umtali, now renamed Mutare, in Zimbabwe”.

Further on, I gather that Julian Vezey is a Zimbabwean professional who is now with Innscor Africa after spectacular sojourn at a reputed international auditing firm. Two from the list are Mauritians while the last but top one seems British but with universal Caucasian characteristics found on all sides of seas and oceans that make Europe and America at home and in the permanent Diaspora. Something very interesting shared by this assortment: to the person, they have had something to do with hot money and the business of managing it. They come under the auspices of a well respected British tycoon.”

Neil Woodford, a top British Fund Manager who manages about ₤15 billion for Invesco Perpetual, bought a stake of 29.5 per cent in Masawara, a fund that is valued at US$80m at the London’s Alternative Investment Market.

Masawara intends to buy into Zimbabwean mines and oil companies, agriculture, telecommunications and property as well as to take part in privatisations of state-held assets.

Masawara, which is incorporated in Jersey, owns 40 per cent of Harare’s biggest commercial property development and almost a third of TA Holdings, another investment company with stakes in agriculture and mining.

Zanu PF, Saviour Kasukuwere, the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment’s ComOil (Pvt) Ltd, an oil procurement company also had an eye on the assets of the BP and Shell.

On Monday Oil Company announced that it has sold its Zimbabwean assets to TA Holdings Limited executive chairman Shingai Mutasa through his newly–founded Masawara plc investment fund.

In April, The Zimbabwe Mail reported that an oil company linked to Vice-President Joyce Mujuru joined hands with a local consortium to bid for all interests owned by BP and Shell Zimbabwe.

A government agency, National Indigenisation and Economic Fund had blocked the acquisition of the oil firm’s assets by two foreign companies.

The consortium in failed bid for BP & Shell assets was known as Positive Energy was led by Mujuru’s oil firm Wedzera, fronted by Harare businessman Eric Nhodza and Downtown Petroleum which was also as part of the consortium.

Other Zanu PF owned groups interested in buying BP and Shell Zimbabwe interests were the Indigenous Petroleum Group of Zimbabwe and Fabrex.

Mauritius-based Engen Holdings International had jointly made a bid with Kenyan oil company KenolKobil to buy BP and Shell Zimbabwe assets.

The NIEEF blocked the bid on the grounds that the shareholding after the transaction would not be consistent with the country’s empowerment laws.

The transaction had also attracted a strong opposition from some Zanu PF businessmen on the basis of economic empowerment lobby groups, which felt the deal was in violation of the country’s empowerment laws.

NIEEF recommended that a consortium of indigenous people be considered.

Shell has operated in Zimbabwe under a management contract with BP.

BP and Shell joint Zimbabwe operations employ about 400 people. Their Harare blending plant has capacity of 30 million litres per year.

At the beginning of the year, the oil multinational Shell decided to pull out of the downstream market in 21 African countries.

The move was reinforced by the global trend of multinationals exiting the relatively low-margin downstream market – which entails the refining of crude oil, and the selling and distribution of refined petroleum products – in favour of the more lucrative upstream activities, which relate to oil exploration and production.

At the same time, another major oil company, BP, announced plans to divest from five southern African countries. BP said it would focus on refining and marketing investment in SA and Mozambique.

Shell Oil Products Africa announced a review of its ownership of downstream businesses in 21 countries in Africa.

“While a number of options are being considered, the preferred outcome is the sale of most businesses … as going concerns, subject to successful negotiations, and any necessary regulatory and final company approvals,” it said.

The review will affect retail, commercial fuels, lubricants, liquefied petroleum gas, bitumen, aviation and marine operations in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion.

Mark Williams, Royal Dutch Shell’s downstream director, said the review was in line with the company’s strategy to “concentrate” its global downstream assets, and followed a number of similar reviews and divestments in other parts of the world.

“Shell’s programme of downstream asset sales will continue through planned exits from 15% of our worldwide refining capacity and 35 % of our current retail markets, which equates to about 5% of Shell-branded retail sites around the world.”