Business
Malawi seeks billions of dollars from US firm over ruby sales
Malawi’s government is demanding the astonishing sum of $309bn (£245bn) in unpaid taxes and royalties from a US-based gemstone company for rubies exported from the southern African state over the last 10 years, its attorney-general has told the BBC.
Columbia Gem House, a family-owned business which says that it upholds fair trade practices, dismissed the claim as “baseless and defamatory”.
The government is also demanding $4bn from French gas giant TotalEnergies in unpaid revenue from an oil storage deal, and $9.5m from Turkish tobacco firm Star Agritech, said Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda.
TotalEnergies declined to comment while Star Agritech denied owing any money.
The amount being claimed from the three multinationals is nearly 300 times Malawi’s national debt of around $1.2bn, and 22 times its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $14bn.
Malawi was forced to take a $174m bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year after running into financial trouble.
Speaking to the BBC Focus on Africa podcast, Nyirenda said that Columbia Gem House had been under-reporting the value of rubies it had exported from Malawi.
He added that “some of the evidence that we’ll be using comes from Columbia Gem House itself, such as declarations they have made in the US, and what they have reported on their website, which they have now deleted”.
“The amount is not just [for] one year, it goes over 10 years back. It also includes the interest,” Nyirenda said.
Columbia Gem House said that the government’s sums do not add up.
The $309bn claim “implies Malawi has somehow produced and exported trillions of dollars’ worth of coloured gemstones”, the firm said in a statement.
“They haven’t done this by any stretch of the imagination,” it added.
Columbia Gem House said it does not operate in Malawi, but buys its gemstones from Nyala Mines, a Malawian-owned company in which the government has a 10% stake.
However, Nyirenda told the BBC that as a minority shareholder, the government was not involved in the day-to-day management of the company, and “the name of Nyala Mines had been changed to disguise its ownership”.
An attempt by the US embassy in Malawi to settle the dispute fell through when the attorney general failed to attend an online meeting, which he put down to “technical challenges”.
Mining contributes only 1% to Malawi’s GDP, although the government has announced plans to scale this up in the next few years.
Malawian economist Wisdom Mgomezulu said the government may be making the claims now because of its financial difficulties.
“They’re looking at all potential sources of income, but if you look at the claim versus the size of the economy, it’s just way too much,” he told the BBC.
The dispute with TotalEnergies is rooted in a deal Malawi entered with it in 2001, according to Nyirenda.
The French multinational was to provide fuel to Malawi and was to get tax incentives in return, he said.
The profits from the arrangement were to have been shared equally but TotalEnergies “only paid for two years and stopped paying in 2006”, Nyirenda alleged.
The government has since taken the company to court in Malawi, and Nyirenda said the government wants it to pay $4bn to settle the matter.
After a catastrophic fire five years ago, the Notre Dame Cathedral de Paris reopened this month looking almost the same as it did when it was first constructed in 1163.
The massive reconstruction project was a testament not just to the hard work of the French people – but also to the lasers, drones and other advanced technology that gave rebuilders a window into the building’s past.
“The time frame wouldn’t have been possible without the record of what existed,” Amy Bunszel, executive vice president of architecture, engineering and construction at 3D-software company Autodesk, told CNN. Her company was a major part of creating a model of the building as it existed before the fire, giving the reconstruction effort a sort of guide for what to do. “It would’ve required a lot more guesswork. Imagine taking millions of tourist photographs (as a reference point) versus having one consolidated perfect representation.”
Back in 2022, when the labor market was so hot that Beyoncé even released a song about it, Americans were job hopping in large numbers, boosting their salary in the process.
The Great Resignation was in full swing.
That fueled fears of a “wage-price spiral” — where wages and prices perpetually rise and feed off each other.
But what appeared to be a hot job market was actually a symptom — not the cause — of the recent bout of inflation, according to new research that explored the consequences of unexpected rising prices on the labor market.
The Container Store has filed for bankruptcy. It is the latest well-known retailer to fall victim to customers cutting back on discretionary spending.
The 46-year-old company said in a statement late Sunday that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will help it “bolster its financial position, fuel growth initiatives, and drive enhanced long-term profitability.” The Container Store revealed in court documents that it has about $230 million in debt and just $11.8 million in cash on hand, but will receive $40 million in fresh financing.
The chain’s 102 locations and website will remain open for orders during the process, which is expected to take 35 days to complete.
“The Container Store is here to stay,” said CEO Satish Malhotra in a statement. “Our strategy is sound, and we believe the steps we are taking today will allow us to continue to advance our business, deepen customer relationships, expand our reach, and strengthen our capabilities.”
Payments to vendors and suppliers will be made as normal and all customer deposits and orders will be honored and delivered, the company said. The Container Store plans to emerge as a private company when the Chapter 11 process is complete.
The company’s Sweden-based Elfa brand, described as a “premium customizable storage system,” isn’t included in the bankruptcy.
The filing comes a few weeks after a deal with Beyond, the parent company of Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock.com. The Container Store was expected bring Bed Bath & Beyond-branded products to some stores, but that deal appears to be in jeopardy. Beyond previously said that the financing deal was in doubt because the Container Store was struggling to reach an agreement with its lenders.
The Container Store’s stock has already been delisted by the New York Stock Exchange because it failed to meet the exchange’s financial standards.
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