Mozambique: ETG’s assets illegally seized by Royal Group, employees arrested
The international conglomerate ETG’s Mozambican subsidiary, Export Marketing Company Limitada (EMCL) has had its assets illegally seized and one employee arrested in the latest escalation of hostilities against the group by Royal Group Limitada (RGL).
Last week, two employees of ETG were charged, and one of them was arrested and detained based on initiation by RGL. It is thought that he is being held without recourse to due process, with his bail set for $60 million. On 22 December RGL illegally seized ETG assets, including cargo, allegedly against the non-payment of bail. This incident is the latest escalation after fourteen months of hostilities against ETG by RGL.
ETG, the parent company of EMCL, employs over 7,000 employees across 45 countries.
According to a statement by an EMCL spokesperson, the company has “never witnessed something as malignant and damaging as this” in more than 40 years of operations across Africa and calls for “an immediate cessation in hostilities and for the release of the impounded assets and employee”.
This most recent unfounded attack on ETG by the judiciary points to the validity of these claims, as do the injunctions against ETG, instigated by RGL, over the course of the last year.
Hostilities against ETG began last year, after RGL’s shipment of supposedly non-GMO soybeans to India in October 2022 was seized by Indian authorities after inspections revealed the cargo was in fact GMO positive. RGL filed a case against ETG and other Indian-based companies operating in Mozambique, alleging that they provided the tip-off that resulted in RGL’s seized cargo and consequent financial loss.
On 19 October 2022 Nampula Provincial Tribunal ordered a stop to all ETG’s exports, and those of other groups also accused. The following day, the Judicial Court of the Province of Nampula granted RGL an order to seize ETG’s assets – including real estate and ships – and had its bank accounts frozen and balances transferred to the court’s account, leading to a complete suspension of all ETG’s commercial activities. This occurred without a legal hearing. Crucially, RGL failed to provide any evidence of ETG’s guilt.
A protracted legal battle then ensued. RGL demanded $60 million in damages from ETG. The latter has consistently held that it was the victim of malicious and patently false allegations by RGL and that it cannot be held responsible for the decision of Indian authorities.
The decision to seize ETG’s Mozambican assets has had disastrous consequences for the economy in the north of the country. It put thousands of Mozambican jobs at the port of Nacala at risk and threatened the livelihood of many thousands more farmers who supplied crops to ETG.
It also impacted the global food supply chain after tonnes of its agricultural cargo spoiled. This includes a shipment of food for the World Food Programme destined for displaced people in Cabo Delgado.
Mumbai-based investigative journalist Jignesh Bhansali has recently shed some light on the calculated intent behind RGL’s actions against ETG. In an interview with RGL’s CEO, Mamadataki, published in Agri Talk, Issue 52, December 2023, Mamadataki described himself as “the Lion of Nacala”. When asked about ETG, Mamadataki claimed he would “kick them out of Mozambique”.
He rejected the journalist’s assertion that the Mozambican government had recently granted ETG permission to export to India once again (the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, announced on 16 December “the immediate liberalization and export of Pigeon Peas to India and free of charge for all”).
His comments made to Mr. Bhansali may be taken as proof of misuse of state institutions by RGL and is evidence of the company’s insidious plan to supress commercial competition and destroy ETG’s Mozambican operations.
ETG employs over 7,000 employees across 45 countries, who according to the company “contribute every day to achieve our vision and purpose, and live out values of Respect, Integrity, Pursuit of Excellent, Leadership, and Meritocracy”.
The group has appealed to Mozambique’s president Filipe Jacinto Nyusi to intervene in the matter.