Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Anglo American's Chairman, gave a
succinct reply in the paper's letter's page on 30 June. He made it clear that this was not a new investment, despite the newspaper's implication that it was. 'In fact, the Unki platinum mine has been under construction for for five years and is still some way from moving into production,' wrote Sir Mark. 'We have been investors in Zimbabwe for 60 years and are deeply concerned by the current violence and human rights abuses..' He goes on to spell out the company's responsibility to communities and employees who depend on Anglo American's presence for their livelihoods.
Keen to know more, I asked Edward Bickham, Anglo American's Executive Director for External Affairs, who I have know for several years, for his take on the situation. This was his reply:
“We are not undertaking a new investment in Zimbabwe – we are carrying on, at a relatively slow pace given the current challenges, building a mine that has been planned since the late 1990s and under construction since 2003. It is not yet in production and will not produce concentrate or pay corporate taxes and royalties for at least two to three years. We have made no new announcement, the piece in The Times was misleading in dramatising a piece of information that has been in our annual/sustainable development reports and analyst presentations for several years (as have our concerns about human rights issues in Zimbabwe).
“We have been obliged to surrender parts of our claims to meet the requirements of indigenisation legislation and it has been made clear that if we were to stop development then we could expect the project to revert to the State. Other platinum operations are under development or in production in the country owned by South African companies and the Chinese and Russians have an increasing presence in the country.
“We have been largely funding the internal construction costs from funds trapped within Zimbabwean jurisdiction and the costs of buying the necessary capital equipment have been funded from overseas so that there has not been a big influx of foreign exchange into the country.
“I think that it is also relevant to note that we have been present in the country for over 50 years and have some other residual interests (which employ about 18,000 people). We are not new, speculative investors trying to turn a quick buck but investors with a long-term commitment to Zimbabwe.
“I would agree that it would have been wrong to announce a new investment in Zimbabwe at the present time. We have condemned human rights abuses and violence and are seeking to do what we can within our sphere of influence in relation to food distribution, generating direct and indirect livelihoods, provision of infrastructure to improve access to water, and strengthening local schools and health infrastructure. We also support projects by various groups such as CARE International.
“So, against this backdrop, we have to ask ourselves whether we can conduct our business within our established business principles. Up until this point – although we keep matters under review – we have concluded that we can. We do not have sufficient scale to make a decisive difference to the overall political picture one way or another. Thus we have concluded for the present that we should continue to develop the project in the belief that the situation will improve and use our presence to improve the lot of the people and communities associated with us. It is unlikely that if our assets were to be transferred to other hands that they would be used for better ends.
“I hope that this helps to explain our current position. These things are, as you well know, far from easy to get right.”
From my previous contacts with Edward Bickham, I have the faith that this is an honest assessment of Anglo American's position. Yes, these are far from easy to get right, and The Times is not imune from getting it wrong. Companies have to take the long-term view as well as assessing the immediate situation. Do you pull out of operations entirely, thus depriving or delaying vital investment in jobs on which people's survival depend? Or do you stick in there for the long haul, in the hope that the appalling political situation, with all its violence, thuggery and dictatorship, will be overcome?
Gordon Brown has just reappointed Anglo American's CEO, Cynthia Carroll, to his Business Council advisory body, as reported in The Times of 3 July. The Liberal Party leader Nick Clegg made immediate political hay over this. But we would all be unwise to jump too quickly to conclusions. The old saying that 'It must be true; I read it in The Times' may not always apply.