Nergel, aaaaaaaah NOIC - just another corrupt ZANU-PF cartel,...

Nergel, aaaaaaaah NOIC - just another corrupt ZANU-PF cartel, firmly in the USA sanctions sights, as the 2021 Citizen-Maverick Zimbabwe Cartel Report points out;

Today, the segment of the pipeline from Beirato Feruka (just outside Mutare) is owned byCompanhia do Pipeline Moçambique Zimbabwe(CPMZ) 115 while the Feruka-Harare segmentis owned by Petrozim Line (Pvt) Ltd, a whollyowned subsidiary of the SOE National OilInfrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (Pvt)Ltd (NOIC).
116 The military influences NOIC andPetrozim 117 through retired Air Vice MarshallChiganze who chairs the Petrozim board andsits on the NOIC board with Brigadier GeneralS Bhebhe.
118Under the former administration, RobertMugabe’s patronage allowed KudakwasheTagwirei to attain a significant allocation ofthe pipeline’s capacity. In 2014, the Mugabeadministration entered into an agreement withTagwirei’s Sakunda Supplies (Private) Limited inwhich Sakunda would finance the refurbishmentof the pipeline and its loading and off-loadinginfrastructure at Beira, Mozambique and inHarare.
119, 120 In return, Sakunda was allowed touse the pipeline to import fuel or charge otherimporters for use of the pipeline. This monopolyposition was temporarily bolstered in 2017when Government banned the transportation offuel via road. 121Sakunda was able to finance therefurbishment with investment from theSwiss-based Trafigura which acquired 49%of Sakunda Supplies (the fuel importing andretailing unit of Sakunda Holdings) in 2014. 122 Itis important to note that Trafigura’s acquisitionof Sakunda Supplies was limited to 49% by theIndigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.Sakunda Supplies’ fuel importing divisionwas later rebranded as Trafigura Zimbabwe 123while its fuel retailing division was rebrandedas Puma Energy. 124 Trafigura Zimbabweused its advantageous position to monopolisethe sourcing of fuel transported through thepipeline from a related entity, Puma Energy,125based in Singapore, a country that Mugabefrequented and where he was when hedied. Eighty-two per cent of Zimbabwe’s fuelimports over the period, 2017-19, came fromSingapore.

126Under the Mnangagwa administration, severalfactors led to significant changes to this cartel.Firstly, Mnangagwa’s alleged association withPuma Energy’s direct competitor, Zuva Energy127 and his alleged support for a second pipeline128 weakened political support for the cartel.
However, Puma retained the political supportof key patrons such as Vice-President Chiwengaand the military.
129Secondly, in 2018 Mnangagwa’s administrationamended the Indigenisation and EconomicEmpowerment Act to allow for foreignownership of most businesses.
130Thirdly, in 2020, the IMF warned thegovernment to stop corrupt payments toTagwirei’s Sakunda Holdings, which were leadingto depreciation of the local currency.
Lastly, local and international actorsbegan lobbying for the US Government toput sanctions on Kudakwashe Tagwirei andSakunda. 131These factors motivated Trafigura to takeover the 51 per cent shareholding held byKudakwashe Tagwirei’s Sakunda
in 2019.132However, Tagwirei is alleged to have stillretained control of the pipeline. He is furtheralleged to have established Sotic Internationalin 2019, some of the employees of which areformer employees of Trafigura and Puma133.Sotic is a Mauritius-based company, which isbacked by Cayman Islands-registered AlmasGlobal Opportunity Fund.134Sotic entered into a US$1.2 billion prepaymentagreement with NOIC.
Under theagreement, Sotic advanced a loan of US$1.2billion to NOIC payable over 10 years at aninterest rate of 6 per cent per annum.135,136 In return, SOTIC was allocated a pipelinecapacity of 130 million litres of fuel per monthfor 10 years – Zimbabwe’s fuel consumptionwas measured at 165 million litres per monthin 2019.
137 This agreement establishes amonopoly position for Sotic over the pipelineand assures it of access to foreign currency fromRBZ for 10 years.Due to its takeover of Trafigura Zimbabwe,Trafigura remains unaffected by the U.S.sanctions on Tagwirei and Sakunda. Both SoticInternational and Tagwirei 138 have denied anyrelationship between them and, at the timeof writing, Sotic was not under U.S. sanctions.
Further, Tagwirei is alleged to also havebeneficial ownership in another fuel retail . . . .