The cases relate to mining disputes with multinational companies that cropped up during the era of the country's former president, John Magufuli.
The aggrieved firms are Winshear Gold Corp. and Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd, both of Canada, and three United Kingdom-registered companies fronted by Australia's Indiana Resources as majority share-owner of their combined holdings. They all had their retention licenses for mining operations in Tanzania revoked by the Magufuli regime in controversial circumstances that allegedly violated existing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) between Tanzania and both Canada and the UK.
In mid July, the Washington DC-based ICSID awarded Indiana Resources $109.5-million in damages for the 2018 expropriation of its nickel mining project in southern Tanzania which the tribunal ruled was in breach of the UK-Tanzania BIT. Tanzania has since applied for annulment of the award, and an ICSID ad hoc committee began hearings on the application on 11 October.
However, this move for annulment is generally seen as an attempt to buy time so that an out-of-court settlement can be reached. Indiana Resources has said it is proceeding with preparations to seize Tanzanian state assets as enforcement of the award in anticipation of the annulment request eventually being dismissed.
The company is eying assets in any of the 158 World Bank member states that are signatories to the ICSID Convention which states that awards issued by ICSID tribunals are enforceable in all of those states.
Among the assets that are regarded as particularly easy targets are aircraft operated by the national carrier, Air Tanzania, on international routes. The ploy has been tried before by past winners of international arbitration proceedings against Tanzania, with some success.
Tanzania has already reached an out-of-court settlement with one of the other litigating companies, Winshear, via a one-time $30-million payment made on 16 October. The Canadian firm was claiming at least $96-million at ICSID in compensation for the 2018 cancellation of its license to run a gold mining project in the country. Montero, which is also based in Canada, is seeking a $67-million damages payoff for having its license for a rare earth element project in Tanzania scrapped.
All the expropriations were conducted under new mining laws introduced by the Magufuli administration with the stated intention of safeguarding sovereign control over Tanzania's mineral resources.
The recent Winshear settlement appeared to bolster public perceptions in Tanzania that current president Samia Suluhu Hassan was going all-out to repair damage to Tanzania's image caused by Magufuli's often confrontational engagements with potential foreign investors. As such, similar negotiated deals may also be in the pipeline with both Indiana Resources and Montero.
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