GLOBE Metals & Mining has been given the green light to find about US$250 million for an integrated niobium project development in Malawi called Kanyika that’s been modelled to have a pre-tax net present value of about $1 billion and an internal rate of return of circa 50%
With a mining licence now received, “all approvals (are) in place to immediately commence construction upon funding and relocation of affected persons”.
However, Globe and the government of Malawi are currently defending in the High Court of Malawi an action by the local community who allege that mining has commenced and claim the defence has breached their constitutional rights by preventing rights to land and lifestyle and a claim for compensation, damages and resettlement.
“At this stage, in discussion with the community, the company has a high degree of confidence that the court proceedings will not continue and that a settlement with mutual benefit will be forthcoming,” Globe said.
“The issue of a mining licence primarily solves the community claim for action on development, relocation and resettlement.”
Globe has allocated US$200 million for plant, property and equipment as well as community relocation.
The open cut development will involve processing of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and production of 11,000tpa of concentrate that will be refined into 3250tpa of niobium and 140tpa of tantalum.
The Kanyika mine is located in central Malawi. Credit: MarisaBona from Pixabay.
Over 90% of niobium is used in the manufacture of high strength alloy steels, with the intensity of usage in steel is rising as markets move towards the manufacture of higher quality steels.
Globe said “niobium’s unique characteristics make it central to many of the world’s past, present and future technologies … (and that it) is critical to military, aerospace, space and medical industries”.
It is also said to be “increasingly important in quantum electronics, in the manufacture of semiconductors and in the electrical vehicle industry”, with Globe set to “target high-end, high-value applications”.
Globe had cash at June 30 of A$2.8 million.
Shares in Globe were up 28.5% to 18c in morning trade, capitalising the company at $84 million.
The stock was at levels around 4c in June, with subsequent strong interest from investors shown after notification that month of the mining lease approval.
Globe initially started feasibility work on Kanyika in 2009
President of the Republic of Malawi Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has taken over the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Chairship from Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, following the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit held in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, which saw eight Heads of State converging on Lilongwe from 17 to 18 August 2021, to discuss ways of promoting a common development agenda for this regional grouping.
The SADC Summit was also attended by other high-profile continental officials including Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, the outgoing SADC Executive Secretary, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of theAfrican Development Bank (ADB).
In a joint communiqué released after the meeting, the Heads of State reaffirmed SADC’s commitment to various protocols that are aimed at promoting regional integration in areas such as peace and security, HIV-AIDS and generally promoting development and resilience in the region in the face of various global Challenges.
The Heads of State also congratulated President Lazarus Chakwera and Malawi for assuming the leadership of the grouping for the next 12 months.
In his closing remarks at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC), President Chakwera expressed his government’s commitment to the full implementation of the Summit decisions towards the creation of a SADC that is peaceful and free, a SADC that is inclusive and united, a SADC that is productive and competitive, a SADC that is industrialized and prosperous, a SADC that is strong and just, adding Malawians expect and deserve nothing less.
President Chakwera, New SADC Chair
However, the question that many people would be asking is, what are the immediate take-home benefits for Malawi as a result of the President Chakwera’s Chairship of SADC? Obviously, people would ask such questions based on the fact that this is not the first time for a Malawian Head of State to assume the role of SADC Chairship. Indeed, Bakili Muluzi was SADC Chairman in 2001 whilst Joyce Banda became Chairperson of the grouping in 2013, but there is very little in terms of bankable development that one can write about that came as a result of these ‘Chairships’.
How different is President Chakwera going to be from Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda? Addressing delegates last year soon after Malawi was nominated to host the summit this year, President Lazarus Chakwera said Malawi is ready to host the meeting, adding that the nomination symbolises the level of confidence SADC has in the leadership of this country. He said this was a huge opportunity for Malawi to sell the country in a positive way. Ode to President Chakwera, the SADC Summit has indeed been hosted successfully, and obviously, the Heads of State and their entourages, who descended on Lilongwe will have many positive stories to tell about Malawi. Apart from wearing their power suits and conducting ‘delegates’ business, many of them travelled and sampled the countryside whilst melting under the infectious smiles of local Malawians. Some of them took to the dance floor to display their tango after getting high on Malawi Gin.
As a country, we also successfully used the opportunity to display to visitors the various products that are produced in Malawi in the hope of finding markets for the same within the region. However, we know that when visitors come to our country, they always travel around and possibly purchase a curio or two and fly back to their countries. That is normal. So what was President Lazarus Chakwera talking about when he said Malawi stands to benefit a lot as a country? The answer is very simple. President Chakwera will be different from his predecessors because he is leading the country and will be leading SADC in a political context that is substantially different from the Muluzi as well as the Joyce Band era.
Bakili Muluzi was the first multiparty President for Malawi, and it is important to appreciate the fact that many democratic institutions in the country [and even the region] were only just nascent and developing during his time. Technology was also not as advanced as today where citizens can track progress against promises through such spaces as the social media without relying on the often-tweaked government information systems. The systems of accountability were therefore not as strong as they are today. It is a naked fact that the international profile of Joyce Banda, as an individual and as President of Malawi, was at the highest before she was ruined by the plunder of public resources by some civil servants christened as ‘Cashgate’. During her time as President, donors warmed up and the country’s bilateral partners became suddenly willing to forget all our transgressions before the party was spoiled by the Cashgate malfeasance.
One of the factors that propelled her to international prominence was because she became Chairperson of SADC during a time when the uptake of ICT was rising and citizens started to engage more directly with their governments. Although President Chakwera is becoming SADC Chair at a time when the world is grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, Malawi stands a better chance of reaping enormous benefits from his SADC Chairship than at any other time in the country’s history. To begin with, Malawi recently launched the Malawi Vision 2063, which among other things envision the country to be a “wealthy and self-reliant middle-economy nation”, through investment in agricultural commercialization, smart urbanization, and sustainable industrialization. This vision dove-tails closely with SADC agenda 2050, which is to attain higher levels of peace and stability, at the same time achieve socio-economic development, poverty eradication as well as regional integration. President Chakwera is also SADC Chair during the time when Covid-19 is heightening and fast-tracking the use of technology to minimize human contact as a way of avoiding the spreading of coronavirus. Already, the just ended SADC Summit was a hybrid mixture of physical and virtual conferencing where so many people followed proceedings online.
This is something unprecedented for SADC, and it may only be a precursor of what is to come in the future. The scenario also only contributes to the narrowing of the interaction space between citizens and the leadership through technology, thereby bringing the President much closer to the people.
In the spirit of his ‘SUPER Hi5’ Agenda – Servant Leadership, Uniting Malawi, Prospering Together, Ending Corruption, and Rule of Law – President Chakwera has already fostered of a culture of servant leadership within the Executive by pushing through reforms, which will encourage the development of human capital, governing institutions, and citizens’ supremacy.
As a servant leader who has always been closer to his people, President Chakwera will, therefore, have an opportunity to exploit this leverage to display his leadership acumen by exhausting the open lines of communication at local and international level, that have been enabled by technology, to ensure that Malawi reaps maximum benefits from his Chairship of SADC.
The most notable benefit is access to the integrated over 300 million people SADC market for various commodities that are produced in Malawi. So when President Chakwera said, “We will have an opportunity to have a say in business decisions in the SADC region, we will have opportunity to find market for our farm produce even our mineral resources”, he knew what he was talking about, and Malawi stands to benefit immensely from his Chairship of SADC. President Chakwera told his counterparts and delegates at the Lilongwe summit that the theme of this year’s Summit, “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the face of COVID-19 Pandemic for Sustained, Inclusive, Economic and Industrial Transformation,” was a call on all of them to respond pragmatically and proactively to the ravaging impacts of COVID-19 on the socioeconomic situation in the Region. “Now is the time for us as a region to rebuild and recapacitate our productive resources.“Now is the time for us to fully unleash our peoples’ entrepreneurial capabilities. Now is the time for us to set up production linkages for achieving structural and industrial transformation. Now is the time for us to turn the SADC we want into the SADC we enjoy,” said the President.
President Chakwera observed that clearly, the kind of socio-economic transformation member states envision cannot be achieved without industrialization. Diversification from raw and unprocessed materials to value added and manufactured products is a must, and the SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap is key to making this a reality. It is called visionary leadership!
***Views expressed are those of the author Chikumbutso Mtumodzi , who us the current Director of Information at Ministry of information***
Former Chief Justice of Malawi, Lovemore Munlo, has died today at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
Tributes from various sectors in the country have poured for the lawyer and politician who held several positions in a career that spanned over 3 decades.Munlo was appointed Chief Justice of Malawi in 2007 by the then President Bingu wa Mutharika. He served as Chief Justice until he retired in 2013.
He then contested for the presidency of the Malawi Congress Party where he lost to Lazarus Chakwera who is now President of Malawi.
Before his appointment as Chief Justice, Munlo served in various portfolios in government such as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (1993 to 1994), Justice of the High Court of Malawi (1990 to 1992); Director of Public Prosecutions (1984 to 1987); Senior State Advocate (1980 to 1984) and State Advocate (1976 to 1980).
Malawi Congress Party , of which the late Munlo was a staunch support wrote “ Malawi Congress Party has learnt with shock about the passing to eternity of Retired Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo,SC who until his death was a bonafide member of the party.
The late Lovemore Munlo
In his service to the party, Justice Munlo upheld and promoted MCP political ideals through advice, mentorship of others and professional capital as an eminent legal mind.
We extend deepest sympathy to his family and pray for emotional healing during this dark hour.MCP family will always value the contribution he made to the establishment for decades”
Dalitos Kabambe DPP leading candidate paid his homage to the ate Munlo. Writing on his facebook page he said “The demise of my brother, Retired Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo (SC), fills me with great sadness. It is even more tragic to the nation, as it comes just few days after the death of his brother Dr Isaac Munlo.
As a person, I learnt a lot from the Retired Chief Justice’s life of service and dedication to the Malawi nation. At his passing, we have lost a man of utmost truthfulness and courage who always had Malawi at heart. A firm believer in the law who helped this nation survive through some of its turbulent periods. I mourn with the Munlo family, the legal fraternity and the nation at large”
Munlo was educated at the University of Malawi, where he obtained a LL.B. degree in 1976, and the University of London, where he was awarded a LL.M. degree in 1989.
He has died just over a week after the death of his young brother Isaac Munlo who died of Covid-19 at Queens Elizabeth Central Hospital.
Capital City giants Silver Strikers have advanced to the FDH Cup semi-finals following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Nyasa Big Bullets in the quarter-final at Silver Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The closely contested match, ended 2-2 after regulation time and it took penalties to separate the two sides.
The visitors took the lead 4 minutes into the game but Stain Davie equalised in the 35th minute.
In the second half, Bullets started the game on a high and Zicco Nkanda found the back of the net in the 54th minute.
Silver then again came from behind to level the scores in the 65th minute through Stain Davie who connected a Blessings Tembo’s free kick with a header to complete his brace.
In the penalty shootouts, Silver goalkeeper Charles Thom was the hero of the day after serving two penalties from defender Sankhani Makandawire and midfielder Henry Kabichi who replaced captain Chimwemwe Idana in the dying minutes of the match.
Levison Maganizo, Patrick Macheso, Chisomo Mpachika and Mark Fodya scored for the central bankers while Yamikani Fodya and Chimango Kayira scored for the People’s team.Prince Phiri missed Silver’s spot kick.
Silver will now face Mighty Wanderers as Ekwendeni Hammers play Rumphi United in another semi-final tie.
Dates and venues for the sem-finals will be announced by FAM Competitions Committee.
Capital City giants Silver Strikers have advanced to the FDH Cup semi-finals following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Nyasa Big Bullets in the quarter-final at Silver Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The closely contested match, ended 2-2 after regulation time and it took penalties to separate the two sides.
The visitors took the lead 4 minutes into the game but Stain Davie equalised in the 35th minute.
In the second half, Bullets started the game on a high and Zicco Nkanda found the back of the net in the 54th minute.
Silver then again came from behind to level the scores in the 65th minute through Stain Davie who connected a Blessings Tembo’s free kick with a header to complete his brace.
In the penalty shootouts, Silver goalkeeper Charles Thom was the hero of the day after serving two penalties from defender Sankhani Makandawire and midfielder Henry Kabichi who replaced captain Chimwemwe Idana in the dying minutes of the match.
Levison Maganizo, Patrick Macheso, Chisomo Mpachika and Mark Fodya scored for the central bankers while Yamikani Fodya and Chimango Kayira scored for the People’s team.Prince Phiri missed Silver’s spot kick.
Silver will now face Mighty Wanderers as Ekwendeni Hammers play Rumphi United in another semi-final tie.
Dates and venues for the sem-finals will be announced by FAM Competitions Committee.
