Latest news with #Guinean
West Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
BEN HARVEY: Why Rio Tinto's next boss should be Simon Trott
Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm is leaving the company he joined five years ago. The suddenness of the announcement (usually these things are 'socialised' weeks or months in advance) has tongues wagging about whether it was his call to go or the Rio board Jerry Maguired him. The job of running the world's second-biggest mining company in 2025 is very different to what it was when Jakob became the big kahuna. If you had chanced upon his to-do list on the first day at work you would have seen one line and one line only: FIX JUUKAN CLUSTERF..K Dealing with the fallout from the Juukan Gorge disaster — which saw Rio destroy ancient Aboriginal shelters in an ill-advised blasting program — took longer than expected because, well, there was a lot of fallout. There were more parliamentary inquiries and more independent investigations than you could poke a stick at. Rio wanted to bleach that event from history and so got rid of anyone who was within a long distance phone call of the crime. As Joe Pesci's character in Casino observed, it's always better without witnesses. Jakob was a good choice to lead the company in the wake of Juukan. An affable Dane with an almost hippy way about him, he was at the opposite end of the personality spectrum to the bloke he replaced — the foppish and effortlessly punchable Frenchman Jean-Sebastien Jacques. Rio recovered from Juukan and things were going swimmingly courtesy of a post-COVID iron ore price so buoyant that Elmo could have run a mining company and not mess things up. Jakob soon had the board reaching for the Mylanta courtesy of two very big calls. The first was signing off on Rio's $10 billion investment in the giant Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea. This is a country whose rulers arbitrarily cancelled 50 mining licences in one month yet Jakob reckoned presented no undue sovereign risk because he counts the Guinean Government and China as joint venture partners. Sceptical? So am I. Rio's now in a devil's threesome with whatever military junta ends up running Guinea in five years and Xi Jinping, who could decide to take over the whole thing just because he can. Jakob raised Rio's risk profile further by taking a $20 billion punt on lithium — a commodity eschewed by other tier-one miners and whose value has been in the toilet ever since the world realised electric cars are actually a bit of a pain in the arse. Rio directors obviously signed off on those big decisions, so it's unlikely Jakob is getting heat from the board because of those calls. The word among analysts who follow Rio is Jakob was being put under the pump by chairman Dominic Barton. The Canadian wanted the Dane to get a handle on operations — which is code for cutting costs — because BHP had quietly become the cheapest producer in the Pilbara. Dominic knows a lot about cutting costs because he spent a large chunk of his working life at McKinsey and Co. That's the management consultancy which in the late 1990s changed Disneyland from being the happiest place on earth to a death zone, courtesy of a recommendation that it 'rationalise' maintenance. And he knows a lot about making money, having led McKinsey when the firm helped the manufacturer of OxyContin devise new and innovative ways to get the United States hooked on hillbilly heroin. Analysts have Rio's chief commercial officer Bold Baatar as one the internal front runners for the top job. Other internal candidates include Sinead Kaufman, who oversees the broadly termed 'minerals' division and copper chief executive Katie Jackson. There are a lot of external candidates but if Rio looks outside the tent it'll be competing with BHP for talent because the Big Australian is rumoured to be hunting for a new chief executive to succeed Mike Henry. Rio's head of iron ore, Simon Trott, should get the gig. Here's why. Rio talks about how it's a transnational miner with interests around the world. Its global headquarters are in London's ever-so posh St James Square and its Australian headquarters are in Melbourne's ever-so conservative Collins Street. But boil this business down and you'll find it's a dirty and dusty old West Australian iron ore company. Four dollars in every five that Rio makes in profit comes out of the Pilbara. Take West Australian iron ore out of Rio and the company wouldn't make the ASX's top 20. I suspect if you crunched the numbers hard it probably wouldn't be in the top 100, rather languishing as a penny dreadful being punted by spivs in West Perth. It makes sense that a West Australian iron ore company (and that's what Rio is) should be run by a West Australian iron ore executive who lives in the same time zone as his business's most important customer, China. Let's see whether Rio has the guts to appoint yet another white, middle-aged male to the top job.
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Top 10 African countries with the weakest currencies in May 2025
A weak currency has far-reaching consequences for a country's economic stability, investor confidence, and citizen well-being, beyond just exchange rates. Zimbabwe's introduction of the gold-backed ZiG currency in April 2024 aimed to stabilize its economy. However, by February 2025, the ZiG had lost 95% of its value on the unregulated market, despite significant central bank interventions. This underscores the complexities of implementing alternative currency models without robust economic fundamentals. As of April 2025, Imara Asset Management, Zimbabwe's oldest independent brokerage, noted that the ZiG is on the verge of failure due to rising irrelevance rather than fast devaluation. In 15 years, Zimbabwe has made six attempts to create a stable indigenous currency, the ZiG being the sixth. It was introduced a year ago and is supported by the central bank's $100 million foreign exchange reserves and 2.5 tons of gold. DON'T MISS THIS: Top 10 African countries with the strongest currencies in April 2025 In the nation, about 80% of transactions are still handled in US dollars, however, some are still made in South African rand. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the president of Zimbabwe, announced last year that the current multicurrency system would be phased out by 2030 and that the ZiG would be the only legal money. Many African countries rely heavily on imports for basic commodities such as petroleum, machinery, medications, and even food. A weak currency increases the cost of imports, exacerbating inflation and diminishing citizens' purchasing power. For example, Nigeria's continuous inflation struggles, with inflation reaching 23.71% in April 2025, show how a weak currency (the naira) raises importation costs and, by extension, the cost of living. With that said, here are the 10 African countries with the weakest currencies, presently, according to the Forbes currency converter, last updated on the 29th of May, 2025. For this month, the currencies of Guinea, Burundi, and the DRC, compared to last month, experienced a dip in value. While currencies for Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Rwanda all marginally increased in value. Top 10 African countries with the weakest currencies in May 2025 Rank Country Currency value per US$ Currency 1. São Tomé & Príncipe 22,281.8 São Tomé & Príncipe Dobra 2. Sierra Leone 20,969.5 Leone 3. Guinea 8,667.8 Guinean Franc 4. Uganda 3,636.8 Ugandan Shilling 5. Burundi 2,977.7 Burundian Franc 6. DRC 2,905.7 Congolese Franc 7. Tanzania 2,682.5 Tanzanian Shilling 8. Malawi 1,734.7 Kwacha 9. Nigeria 1,590.2 Naira 10. Rwanda 1,414.3 Rwandan Franc
TimesLIVE
5 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
EGA's Guinea unit hopes for talks as bauxite stockpile nears 2-million tonnes
Emirates Global Aluminium's (EGA) subsidiary in Guinea has accumulated a stockpile of nearly 2-million metric tonnes of bauxite since the suspension of its operations last year, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. EGA, equally owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, and Dubai sovereign wealth fund the Investment Corporation of Dubai, operates one of the largest bauxite mines in Guinea through its Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) subsidiary. The standoff with Guinea's government highlights the aggressive push by the military authorities to increase benefits from the country's vast natural resources as the world's largest bauxite producer leverages its position in aluminium supply chains to force downstream processing commitments. The company has been in a dispute with the government since October last year when its GAC bauxite exports, and mining operations were later suspended by the authorities. Reuters reported earlier this month that the government has launched a process to withdraw EGA's mining licence over its failure to build an alumina refinery. Since the suspension of exports and mining operations, its stockpile of bauxite at the port and train loading facility at the mining site, have reached nearly 2-million metric tonnes, the three sources familiar with the situation, told Reuters. The sources requested anonymity because there were not authorized to speak for the company. EGA and GAC did not respond to Reuters' requests for comments on the stockpiles. The company said in a separate statement on Tuesday it hoped to resume talks with the Guinean government that could lead to a lifting of measures blocking its bauxite mining operations. In its statement, GAC said the measures imposed by the authorities had hampered its operations, leading to their complete stoppage in December 2024 and significant financial losses for the company and its shareholders. Responding to a Reuters request for comment, Guinea's mines minister Bouna Sylla said the country was committed to working with all investors who fully comply with their contractual commitments, adding they intend to clean up the mining sector. "This process will continue rigorously, respecting the current legal framework while ensuring the legitimate interests of all stakeholders, including Guinean investors," Sylla said. Responding to reports that the dispute was due to its failure to fulfil commitments, including building a refinery, GAC said in the statement that it had always fulfilled all of its obligations under agreements Guinea, and contests that it has acted differently. "As regards an alumina refinery project in Guinea, GAC has repeatedly indicated to the Guinean authorities that the realisation of such a project is contingent upon overcoming numerous and significant economic, technical and environmental challenges," it said. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, also military-led West African states have taken similar routes to assert more control over their mineral-rich mining sectors in a bid to generate higher revenue.
TimesLIVE
5 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Guinea cancels 129 exploration permits, further tightening control
Guinea's military government has cancelled 129 minerals exploration permits, it said in a statement late on Monday, as the West African nation tightens control over its assets. A senior official at the Ministry of Mines said the decision was taken to free unused resources for other investors. "We've simplified it by digitising the whole system, which can now be better controlled," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. It wasn't immediately clear whether any significant investments would be affected by the move. A second Guinean ministry official said most of the cancelled permits were to identify gold deposits and that the assets had been returned to the state.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Guinea cancels 129 exploration permits, further tightening control
CONAKRY, May 27 (Reuters) - Guinea's military government has cancelled 129 minerals exploration permits, it said in a statement late on Monday, as the West African nation tightens control over its assets. A senior official at the Ministry of Mines said the decision was taken to free unused resources for other investors. "We've simplified it by digitising the whole system, which can now be better controlled," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. It wasn't immediately clear whether any significant investments would be affected by the move. A second Guinean ministry official said most of the cancelled permits were to identify gold deposits and that the assets had been returned to the state. Guinea this month retracted 51 mining licenses that were being underutilised or hadn't begun operating. Those licenses concerned bauxite, gold, diamond, graphite and iron concessions. It had previously moved to withdraw bauxite licences belonging to Kebo Energy SA and Emirates Global Aluminium. Guinea is home to the world's largest reserves of bauxite, the main ore used to produce aluminium. China is a major operator in the country. The effort to improve control over its resources comes as other military regimes in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have also cracked down on foreign miners and sought to boost revenue from production.
