
THE chief strategist of United Arab Emirates firm IRH Mining, which recently outbid Sibanye-Stillwater for control of Zambia’s Mopani Copper, had dealings with gold smugglers in Africa, said Bloomberg News.
Citing a report by the United Nations, the newswire said IRH Mining’s Sibtein Alibhai discussed business with gold traffickers in his role at another venture established to clean up the mineral trade in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Their report on Congo didn’t mention IRH or Alibhai’s work for the Emirati company, but described him as having had meetings with gold smugglers as recently as March this year, said Bloomberg News.
IRH is a unit of International Holding Company, a conglomerate controlled by United Arab Emirates’ National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Although relatively unknown until this year, IRC was said to have targeted $1bn in acquisitions.
IHC CEO Syed Basar Shueb, told the Financial Times in May that its IRH subsidiary had signed joint venture agreements for iron ore mining in two places in Angola — Kassala Kitungo and Munenga — and that it was in advanced talks to mine nickel in Burundi as well as various metals in Tanzania and Kenya.
Shueb said the group had been formed from different mining interests belonging to IHC and Royal Group, an investment group also chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon that preceded IHC. “Whether it’s a mining or a refinery business of the gold, or the trading side of the business, we have consolidated everything under IRH,” Shueb said.
The UN report said Alibhai “approached several gold smugglers” on behalf of a company he founded named Primera Group and “offered them business opportunities”. Those meetings took place in February and March.
IRH and Alibhai declined to comment on the allegations about meetings with smugglers. Via a representative for IRH, Alibhai said that he “resigned from Primera Group in April 2023 to accept the position as chief global strategist at IRH. Mr Alibhai has not represented Primera Group since 2023.”