By Oswald Hanciles, Guest Writer, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
‘Leone Stars is now playing in the Premier League," said Coz Kampanaos, who has an MBA degree specializing in Corporate Finance from the University of Cranfield, United Kingdom.
Most Sierra Leonean males in cities are addicted to football, especially the British Premier League, so, are likely to be excited by – even if it would sound incredulous to them!!– the title of this piece connoting that our national football team, Leone Stars, is playing in the Biggest League of global football. The compact healthy-looking English man, Coz Kampanaos, said something close to what is the title of this piece when I interviewed him on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, at the London Mining headquarters in the Wilberforce Hills in Freetown. What actually was articulated by Coz Kampanaos – beautifully tanned by Freetown’s tropical sun, Coz started his professional life in 1987 after earning a degree in electrical engineering from Cardiff University, U.K.; his business card in London Mining unusually reads: “Change Manager–Operational Readiness” - were these inspirational words: “With London Mining’s investment, and readiness to begin mining and exporting iron ore, Sierra Leone is now in the ‘premier league of mining’. The country is now opening itself to a brave new frontier. London Mining is not merely competing with other mining companies in Sierra Leone, of even Africa; our competition is global – so, our policies, standards, expectations, products…have to be absolutely global…”. The British are not known for hyperbole. The British are famous for subdued dignity in manners and language. So, when a British national like Coz Kampanaos use such inspiring language, it has to be given credence.
London Mining’s $200 Million Vote of Confidence in Sierra Leone
London Mining has invested $200million in its Marampa Mines operations in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Over the past one year, they have been engaged in “construction” of processing plants, roads, a port, etc. Coz came in February, 2011, to overseer the “change from construction to mining” in London Mining. Mining will start in August, 2011. In the last week of November, 2011, London Mining will begin exporting iron ore from a barge off the coast off the Freetown harbor. An average of 3.5 million tons of iron ore will be exported every year. What will this mean in dollar terms for the country?
Half a Billion Dollars Yearly Export from One Mining Company Alone
One ton of iron ore in the market today is valued at about $150. So, multiply $150 by 3.5million!!! We are talking half a billion dollars there, my brother!! From which about a hundred million dollars could be pumped into the economy as royalties, corporate taxes, PAYE taxes for staff; subcontracting of local firms for food and other materials, etc. Coz was not engaged in overstatement just because of this – by Sierra Leone’s standard - mouth watering sum. What is far more profound for a country like ours emerging from one of the nastiest civil wars in recent times is that enough confidence has been restored in our country to attract some of the biggest players in global finance to put their money into the country. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s drum major public relations drive for Sierra Leone could be influencing the changing perception on Sierra Leone, but an almost unknown person to Sierra Leoneans who has staked his reputation, and his money, to convince some of the biggest players in global finance to invest in London Mining’s operations in Sierra Leone is their Chairman, Graeme Hossie. Peek at two of the shareholders of London Mining’s operations in Sierra Leone and you would agree with me that what Graeme Hossie has done in confidence-building for Sierra Leone is phenomenal.
The Big Boys of International Finance Have Invested in Sierra Leone Today
One of the big finance players with 8.35% shares in London Mining is F&C Asset Management Plc . It is listed in the London Stock Exchange. The company, with revenue of 259 million pounds in 2010, has offices throughout the world, and has more than three million private and corporate clients on whose behalf, as at 31 March 2010, it managed over Ł101.5 billion of assets. F & C has an office network spanning ten countries: in China, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, U.S., etc.
Another big finance company that owns 8.09% of London Mining shares is Schroders Investment Management. It is a British multinational asset management company with over 200 years of experience in the world’s financial markets. As at 30 September 2010, Schroders manage assets worth Ł181.5 billion. Their clients - in 25 countries - include corporations, insurance companies, local and public authorities, charities, pension funds, high net worth individuals and retail investors. Shroders’ sheen transcends just money. On its roster of current and former employees Schroders has names which are like mega stars in global finance and industry. This includes: Geoffrey Bell - Chairman of Guinness Mahon (1987–1993) and founder of the Group of Thirty ; Winfried Bischoff - Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group (2009–present); Andrew Knight - Editor of The Economist (1974–1986); Gordon Richardson - Governor of the Bank of England (1973–1983); James Wolfensohn - President of the World Bank (1995–2005); Avery Rockefeller - member of the Rockefeller family; Frank Cyril Tiarks - director of the Bank of England (1912–1945). Why do companies that have such big names associated with them decide to invest in London Mining’s operations in Sierra Leone?
“Big Time Financiers Can Put their Money Anywhere in the World…”
“These companies investing in London Mining could put their money in businesses anywhere in the world, from coal in Mongolia to diamonds in Australia”, Coz stressed. He said that these finance companies were convinced by London Mining’s CEO Graeme Hossie to put their money into Sierra Leone because of the “perception of political stability, democratic governance, free press, reliable legal system, vibrant and sober civil society organizations….”.
President Ernest Bai Koroma has to take credit for heading a government that has wrought a quantum leap in shoring up the confidence of international businesses like London Mining to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the country. The political opposition, SLPP and PMDC, and their leaders, John Benjamin and Charles Margai, should also share in this glory of changing perception about our country, and attracting big time investors. 6 million Sierra Leoneans, especially voters in the 2007 elections, who have conducted themselves with relative sobriety after our civil war years should pat themselves on the back, too. This trend has to be sustained. Reflect on Coz’s apt imagery: Sierra Leone is now in the ‘premier league’ of global mining investment. After Phase One of its operations in about four years’ time, London Mining aims to attract some $2billion of investment for its Marampa Mines operations. (The other mining companies will also attract similar investments into the country).
We Must Bridle Political Extremists
To continue attracting such huge sums of money all Sierra Leoneans must cooperate with each other to wipe out the ‘war image’ – that image stirred by the RUF that there are rebels who would rampage through our towns and burn down everything, murdering and maiming with wanton abandon, nurturing a climate of complete anarchy. Today, extremists in our political parties, ethnic jingoists in the public sector - in their words, and actions - must be put in ‘political and administrative handcuffs’. We must watch their language; and not tolerate their words and actions as what holds sway in our collective psyche – because the words of political and administrative extremists could be interpreted as precursors to violence erupting in our country again, extremists would put the jitters in serious investors like London Mining whose operations will continue for the next thirty years. London Mining, according to Coz, has an “incredibly strong financial base” today. The company founded in 1972 has a market capitalization of $660 million, and cash in hand of $129million in 2011. But, with a country like ours floating on a sea of highly marketable mineral resources, Sierra Leone can still attract some of the biggest players in global mining. Like Rio Tinto.
Rio Tinto, with two hundred years of experience in minerals mining, has a revenue base of $60 billion; and net income of $15 billion. We can lure the Rio Tintos into Sierra Leone and bolster the confidence of companies like London Mining to increase the investments to the billions of dollars bracket. Every citizen has to know how he or she can help attract investors, or, repel them. ‘Investment Lessons’ and how our impressive mineral resources can be translated into egalitarian wealth – through a hardworking democratic sober-minded populace - has to be taught continually in the print and electronic media; in our educational institutions at all levels; in political party meetings; in churches and mosques, in youth and women clubs, etc. In the ‘Premier League of global mining that Leone Stars is now playing in’ – we have six million players – we must not, in ‘playing politics,…shake shake too moss’; we must work hard; and study hard….; importantly, we have to be sedate in our we conduct our politics.
The 7.37% stock exchange value of each of the shares of one of the shareholders in London Mining, Fidelity Investments, is 3.36 pounds – this translates to about 28 million British pounds. “Investors with such money can decide to invest it anywhere in the world. That they have decided to invest their money in a company mining in Sierra Leone is a good thing. London Mining is a trailblazer. When we see good returns in our investments, others are sure to come…”, the Lagos Nigeria-born British citizen, Cos Kampanaos emphasized. Such wise words must be emblazoned everywhere and inculcated in every Sierra Leonean mind.
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