ssc hits wall, page-5

It's not over till the fat lady sings.

Here it is guys:


Phosphates: Sultan Corp runs into wall in Lome

The Australian firm Sultan Corporation's hopes of landing a carbonated phosphates concession in Togo before the end of the year (AMI 259) appear increasingly slim. Under pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) which are insisting Togo must adopt good governance practices if it wants their help to reviving the flagging phosphates sector, Lome has turned down Sultan Corporation's offer, according to our sources. Sultan was the lone company to respond to a call for bids. The government is now preparing to launch a new and "more open" competition.

Since late last month, officials from the mines and geology ministry have let it be known Sultan's bid didn't meet the conditions for the concession and probably wouldn't have passed muster with international standards that Togo espouses. Even so, mines minister Damipi Noupokou, the managing director of mines and geology, Mathias Banimbo Gbengbartane and the director-general of Societe Nationale de Phosphates du Togo (SNPT) had begun engaging in exclusive negotiations with Sultan's general manager, Derek Lenartowicz.

Togo's carbonated phosphate reserves are estimated at 2 billion tons and to start working them would require an initial investment of CFA 48 billion (€73 million). The company that wins the deal must commit itself to building a phosphoric acid plant costing a minimum of CFA 100 billion. Togo's mines minister and the boss of Sultan could not be contacted when this article went to press.