The govt-Acacia dispute: It’s the strategy that matters

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But, frankly there is little, if at all to celebrate for, at least for now. It is worth reminding the reader that, this is not the first time the government has undertaken renegotiations of contracts with a foreign investor in the extractive sector.

While the recommendations of the 2012 GNT have been ignored and perhaps forgotten in government circles, another GNT led by Prof Kabudi (the Kabudi GNT) to participate in negotiations with Barrick. This begs a lot of questions: Does the government has a strategy in place? Is there a roadmap? Is it again going to be conditional gains again never to be implemented? While, I acknowledge Prof Kabudi’s academic achievements, but he has spent his lifetime as an academician. He has absolutely no experience in the mining industry not least the requisite commercial negotiations skills. On the contrary, the lead negotiator of Barrick, Richard Williams is a COO, with a long experience as an executive in the mining industry. Absence of a big shot with equal or surpassing credentials to that of the lead negotiator of the other side, is a stark evidence on a strategic failure of planning on the part of the government.

In negotiations, knowing the strength of your counterpart and mobilising your resources to match with that of your counterpart is as important as the banker knowing the expectations of his customers. The negotiations of this nature ought not to be led by a politician in the first place; it ought to be left to seasoned professionals with industry experience and skills. This is not a political dispute between states, even if it was one; a professional diplomat would be preferred to a politician. The problem of politicians, tend to bring into the negotiating rooms their political garbage which more often than not ends up dampening the objectivity of the negotiations. It is the negotiations skills; it is the industry prowess that matters most and not the political ineptitude and academic romanticism.

The govt-Acacia dispute: It’s the strategy that matters

What you need to know:

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