Mali wins $160m dispute after detaining British businessman
Australian mining company Resolute Mining has agreed to pay $160m (£126m) to Mali’s military government to resolve a tax dispute after the detention of its British CEO and two other employees 10 days ago.
Reports indicate that Terry Holohan and his colleagues were taken into custody while traveling to Bamako, the capital, for what they expected to be standard negotiations.
Resolute, which owns a gold mine in Mali, said on Sunday it would pay $80m immediately from existing cash reserves, and the rest in the coming months.
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Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and is seeking to extract a greater share of income from foreign operators in the sector.
It is not yet clear when the three Resolute employees will be released but part of the conditions for their release were that they must sign the memorandum of understanding and complete the initial payment, according to media reports.
Mali detained the three Resolute executives on charges of forgery and damaging public property, seen as an attempt to force the Australian company amid an ongoing state crackdown on foreign – mostly Western – mining companies in the West African country.
Last year, President Col Assimi Goïta signed into law a new mining code increasing the maximum stake for state and local investors from 20% to 35%.
