Africa-Press – Eswatini. “There is no special treatment for investors. We screen all of them,” says Thulani Mkhaliphi.
Mkhaliphi, who is the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said in as much as the country was in dire need of investors, there was no special treatment as they were all expected to undergo due diligence. He was referring to the debacle of Crowne Aerospace. He said in as much as the country was keen on getting investors who would better the lives of the citizenry, there was no room for begging. In vernacular, he said: “Asincengani la!” This was after he had been asked if due diligence was done on the company that claimed to be bringing an investment of about E91.7 billion.
It has since however been brought to light that the company’s claims were not the same as the situation on the ground. The PS was sought for comment following the concerns that were raised by Crowne Aerospace in an article published by our sister publication – Times SUNDAY – wherein potential investors who are said to have been interested in developing King Mswati III International Airport into the largest cargo hub in Africa had cancelled the investment out of anger.
Jobs
The investment was said to be valued at about E91.7 billion (US$6.2 billion) and stood to create 630 permanent job opportunities, a further prospect of 2 000 temporary jobs during construction, while also increasing the utilisation of the KMIII International Airport, among other things. Mkhaliphi said if the business entity was willing to do business with the country, it was well and good while also the same applied if it was no longer willing to engage in same. He said it was essential that the proprietors of Crowne Aerospace be treated like any other entity seeking to do business in the kingdom. Mkhaliphi further wondered on the prospects of the company having the funding that they claimed to have. Rhetorically, he asked: “Who has E91.7 billion readily available?”
Situation
It is worth noting that our sister publication quoted Douglas Berry, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Crowne Aerospace as having said the reality of the situation was that Eswatini had effectively lost E91.7 billion (US$6.2 billion) in investment. It was further reported that Berry claimed that this was a disaster for the kingdom’s economy. This investment is almost four times more than the national budget of the Kingdom of Eswatini which was tabled by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg. The national budget for the 2022/23 financial year is E23.2 billion. Meanwhile, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, said: “I think the PS was speaking in context. He wouldn’t push away an investor. That’s my official response. Actually he did everything he could to support them, personally taking them to the parastatal in an effort to assist them. I’m not surprised that they are acting this way, they become very nasty when you ask them to prove themselves.”
This was after he was sought to expand on government’s position when it comes to investors. He said he was taken aback when he saw the article. He said this was because his ministry through the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA) had done due diligence. Khumalo said when Crowne Aerospace first came to the kingdom in 2019, EIPA was assigned to do due diligence as expected of any prospective investors in order to avoid spending more time with people who could be misrepresenting themselves. He said the due diligence was done to establish whether they were capable of doing all the things they were proposing to do in the kingdom and further establish their portfolio. “What I can say with full confidence is that they did not pass the due diligence test at the time. EIPA advised the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to request more information from them.”
The minister said they wanted more information to establish if the companies they claimed to have were authentic and also to establish if the terminals they claimed to operate existed.
He said this was a necessity because when they did the due diligence, all these things did not checkout. He said while EIPA was conducting the due diligence process, they found nothing to be in existence with what had been presented. This information, Khumalo said, was not new to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, as it was formally presented following the due diligence procedure. “I was taken aback by what they were saying in the media. This is because we communicated with them that until they gave us information substantiating what they were claiming to be, we cannot necessarily continue with the process.”
He said this was because the company had presented to have experience and the skill set in their field but when EIPA checked, there was none such.
Engaged
Khumalo said in 2019; government engaged the Eswatini High Commission in the United Kingdom (UK) to check their physical premises, offices, Crowne Aerospace contact person and contact number. The minister claimed that when checking these details, nothing came back positive, such that even the physical address that was given to them did not exist. He insisted that the claims that were made by Crowne Aerospace were not consistent with the reality on the ground. He said the company had claimed to have terminals in Johannesburg and other places, but when the EIPA checked, none of these terminals existed. Following this, Crowne Aerospace founder and CEO was contacted to establish if it was true that their presentation to government did not pass the due diligence.
He was also sought to establish where they were operating their business and what businesses, the investor who was in their company in January 2022. In response, he said: “As far as I’m concerned, the matter is finished, it’s over and done with. We do not have to justify anything. Our offices are registered with the Companies Authority in the United Kingdom, it’s One Charterhouse News London, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.” Berry requested not to comment further and instead, he proposed that he be called in the morning.
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