The Cost of Doing Business in Africa Epilogue We all know the risks of doing business in Africa and like South Africa the corruption is part of day to day business practice. What perplexes us is a situation of one of the most respected Traditional Leaders in Zambia “ Chief mukuni “ described to us at out of first interview with Lieberthal as one of the most honest down to earth people he has ever met.
On the face of it seems Mukuni is a man of the people living by his Bones (a piece of ivory jewellery he wears round his neck) On questioning the bones as they are known Mukuni explains to Lieberthal how his people were elephant hunters and how they came to Zambia from the DRC in 1700 when the tribe split Mukuni is the only living direct decedent of the original Mukuni tribe. From the outset he is a charming charismatic man who has no problem telling you about his political stance or his History. Mukuni was not groomed for the position and never though he would be in line for the throne. In his youth he was a Marking manager at BP and very involved with Zambian tourism is it his involvement in formal business that gives him the edge he has in business or is the rout of all evil greed & theft from unsuspecting investors.
Let’s start at the begging for those of you who follow my story’s and read my international blog the Name J Holdings and Jayson Lieberthal will not be new to you as we have interviewed him almost every six months since I had the happy accident of meeting him at his 30th Birthday Party. I have followed Lieberthal career very closely and often call for his opinion or antidote of the day. Those of you who have followed Lieberthal will know his basic business principals. A) Always go with your gut and his most famous statement BUISNESS IS A GAME SOME TIME YOU WIN SOME TIMES YOU LEARN. Lieberthal has no problem openly admitting bad business decisions he has made and lost money calling lessons and not losses. At the Beginning of 2010 I spoke to Lieberthal and he told me about Zambia the chief and the plans they had, He was filled with enthusiasm when we questioned on the profitability of these projects in Zambia Lieberthal admitted that there were far better profits to be made in SA but that he has fallen in love with Zambia and the Zambian people all of the projects planned were based on improving the quality of life for the average Zambian.
At this stage I am sure the question is raised what made Lieberthal look at Zambia in the first place in his own words “ I had recently purchased a majority stake in small advertising and marking firm in Joburg ran by two incredible black women one was a South African and one was a Zambian I am not going to mention names here as I have already had one attempt on my life from my ex Zambian partner, The first thing the Zambian lady did was convince me to fire her partner as she was doing all the work, telling me were paying her profit for doing nothing this went to the board and her motion was passed, she then incessantly nagged me about her connections in Zambia and the opportunity’s they lay there for us after a few months I gave in and the two of us flew down to Lusaka to meet Chief Mukuni this was a fantastic experience it really was like traveling with royalty every were we went people dropped to the knees on the very sight of the Chief, After a discussing our vision Chief decided we had to set up J Holdings Zambia with a promise of projects to come from every government organisation conceivable. With only having being in Zambia a few hour Chief insisted we
register the company he took us to meet a Boyd A Katebe an ex officer in the company registrars offices. We filled in the forms J Holdings South Africa was to hold 70% of the share while Chief Mukuni would hold 30% in his personal capacity I was told I would have to fit the bill for the registration of the company which came to a little over US$1000 a huge sum by Zambian standards. To my utter amazement Chief received a call from Boyd 2 hours latter to say the company was registered and the documents were ready. With our newly formed company we set out to the bank curiously Chief did not take us to Zanaco the most respected and advanced bank in Zambia were Chief holds most of his personal accounts but rather to Indo Zambia a relatively small bank owed by a parent company in India, On arrival we were ushered in an met the General Manager GHR Hamainza and the Chief Manager Godwin C.Ngoma. We explained our goals and I asked the bankers straight out if they wanted to be are partners they agreed and the accounts were opened with them insisting on a $1500 deposit in to each account I had now been in Zambia all of 5 hours and out of pocket R100 000 with all set up fees travel meals act.
The day went on and we met several hi ranking government officials no appointments were necessary as we were with the Chief we simple walled in to the finance ministers officer Situmbeko Musokotwanee, Chief instructed the sectary the He was there and we taken in to his office immediately we had a brief meeting in which we explained the projects we wanted to unveil ranging from computer education medical advancements establishment of a new hospital and Our vision to supply the govement with much need public housing. Lieberthal was present before the meeting with the Minister of Finance when the chief was handed a document stating he had won a tender for the development of 4000 government homes in Livingston, Mukuni explained the deal to Lieberthal and comment that everyone in government knows if he applies for a tender he will win it, Looking back on this Lieberthal can see this was a set up. Mukuni advised Lieberthal that he wanted to undertake this Project with J Holdings. Lieberthal spends weeks working on a plan were this project could be undertaken while providing stimulus and growth to the Zambia economy all publish in Zambian newspapers and CNBC interview. Little did Lieberthal know that while he was busy with the press Mukuni was no were to be found as he had taken all of Lieberthal idea’s and singed over the contract to the Chinese. Lieberthal had met one of Mukuni’s sidekicks a Roger V.Z. Lee President of the Mukuni Royal Establishment and an honorary prince in Mukuni court. The whole day Mukuni had been avoiding Lieberthal and had done a deal to outsource the housing project to the Chinese they were to build precast housing and not use any local labour or bring about local economic stimulation. When Lieberthal was questioned by us on why he thought Mukuni had done this his answer was decise and straight to the point in the J Holdings proposal the profits were not large and would take 5 – 7years before J Holdings Zambia made any money out of the deal obviously in outsourcing the deal to the Chinese Mukuni would receive a lump sum upfront. The fact that the J Holdings project would have provided employment to 5000 of his villagers did not stop him from taking this action.
Lieberthal shrugged off this blatant stab in the back stating “sometimes greed takes over were ambition left off” He also had many other iment projects that were just awaiting “sign off” from the various ministers he had met with Mukuni. Little did Lieberthal know this was just the begging of Mukuni’s betrayal? What would ensue were numerous trips to Zambia and back. Every trip promising a new project and greater growth. On one occasion Lieberthal flew Mukuni to Johannesburg all expenses paid with a presidential suit at the Melrose arch hotel were Mukuni had come under the orcabsis of discussing the contract for the 4000 homes as well as meeting with Hennery Banda President Banda’s son and advisor at this meeting we had been assured by Mukuni that J Holdings Zambia would handle all PR for the upcoming election. When Banda arrived at J Hodlings offices he seemed to know nothing about this. Banda and Mukuni spoke to each other is there mother tongue and Banda quickly got on board making empty promises. On one of Lieberthal's trips to Zambia his uncle Wynne Lieberthal a Professor of Orthopaedic surgery accompanied him. Mukuni immediately took a shine to the prof and asked him if he would consider taking a post at the Zambia University teaching hospital. The prof agreed and as normal they went off to meet the CEO of the UTM Dr L Chikoya the meeting seemed to go incredibly well for both Lieberthal with the hospital agreeing to both employ the professor and procure medical equipment from J holdings.
On return to SA Prof Lieberthal eagerly awaited his letter of appointment of months of waiting and Prof Lieberthal turning down other illustrious job opportunities in SA they a received a call from Mukuni stating that he had the contract ready for Prof Lieberthal to sign and start work. Once again the J Holdings team was on the way to Zambia this time it was to be all the senior board member flying down as they were told various contracts were ready to be singed. The team arrived in Livingston were they were treated like royalty escorted from the air craft by passed customs and taken to the presidesial lounge were they waited for their bags to be collected and passports prosed on their behalf. On this trip Mukuni offered to give a prime piece of land to J Holdings Zambia for the purpose of a self-catering resort once again Lieberthal worked on the plans making sure to make use of all local labour and materials and to provide long term employment to the people of the Mukuni village. The deal was done and Mukuni was sent to transfer the land to the Zambia operation within three days. Meanwhile the team was enroute from Livingstone to Lusaka Mukuni asked Prof Lieberthal if he would mind if they stopped off at a friend of his would had been suffering from a broken clavicle the Proff graciously agreed and made the house call.
Once in Lusaka when the prof questioned Mukuni were the letter of appointment was witch he had claimed to have in his hands the day he called. Know was strangely awaiting a signature. On arrival in Lusaka were the J Holdings team were to sign various contracts they were told it was a formality but that they had to put on a presentation for various dignitaries with only 7 hours’ notice and at a cost of over R100 000 the presentation went ahead with Mukuni being the guest of honour along with various heads of state and the MMD. Once again the J Holdings team left Zambia empty handed and out of pocket at this stage it was evident to Lieberthal that it was unlikely that anything would come to fruition. Months went by with lots of phones and generally been given the run around while Lieberthal had begun to accept that Mukuni did not have the pull he claimed to he still trusted this mystical man and Mukuni assured him all the contracts would come in due course at this stage Lieberthal did not believe they would but still firmly believed in the deal for the self-catering resort as there were no obstacles simply a transfer of land. Mukuni then demanded that Lieberthal pay the cost of having the land surveyed yet another R100 000 was paid to Mukuni in 2010.
Mukini has not trasfered the land and refuses to refund Lieberthal the moneys paid at this stage Lieberthal is persing legal charges though Interpol and the UN as it is unlikely the Zambian authritys will take any action against King Mukuni In sumery if you are considering doing business in Zambia don’t, Mukuni often braged to Lieberthal that no one gets a buissness in to Livingston with out him getting a piece of the pie look no further than the fact he is a share holder and director of Sothern Sun Livingston
Operation Think Tank R1 000 000 J Holdings Group Is running a program for University Students of all ages to Brain Storm and Lunch new business to add to our private equity group We are looking to form a 10 Member group. J Holdings will provide all venture capital. Successful applicants will be shareholders in this venture Should the business model work We are looking for People interested in the following fields Computer Majors Accounting Majors Business Majors Philosophy Majors Finance Majors Political and journalism Art & Graphic Engineers If you are a person with an entrepreneur flair contact me at Jayson@iburst.co.za
The Cost of Doing Business in Africa
ReplyDeleteEpilogue
We all know the risks of doing business in Africa and like South Africa the corruption is part of day to day business practice. What perplexes us is a situation of one of the most respected Traditional Leaders in Zambia “ Chief mukuni “ described to us at out of first interview with Lieberthal as one of the most honest down to earth people he has ever met.
On the face of it seems Mukuni is a man of the people living by his Bones (a piece of ivory jewellery he wears round his neck) On questioning the bones as they are known Mukuni explains to Lieberthal how his people were elephant hunters and how they came to Zambia from the DRC in 1700 when the tribe split Mukuni is the only living direct decedent of the original Mukuni tribe. From the outset he is a charming charismatic man who has no problem telling you about his political stance or his History. Mukuni was not groomed for the position and never though he would be in line for the throne. In his youth he was a Marking manager at BP and very involved with Zambian tourism is it his involvement in formal business that gives him the edge he has in business or is the rout of all evil greed & theft from unsuspecting investors.
ReplyDeleteLet’s start at the begging for those of you who follow my story’s and read my international blog the Name J Holdings and Jayson Lieberthal will not be new to you as we have interviewed him almost every six months since I had the happy accident of meeting him at his 30th Birthday Party. I have followed Lieberthal career very closely and often call for his opinion or antidote of the day. Those of you who have followed Lieberthal will know his basic business principals. A) Always go with your gut and his most famous statement BUISNESS IS A GAME SOME TIME YOU WIN SOME TIMES YOU LEARN. Lieberthal has no problem openly admitting bad business decisions he has made and lost money calling lessons and not losses.
ReplyDeleteAt the Beginning of 2010 I spoke to Lieberthal and he told me about Zambia the chief and the plans they had, He was filled with enthusiasm when we questioned on the profitability of these projects in Zambia Lieberthal admitted that there were far better profits to be made in SA but that he has fallen in love with Zambia and the Zambian people all of the projects planned were based on improving the quality of life for the average Zambian.
At this stage I am sure the question is raised what made Lieberthal look at Zambia in the first place in his own words “ I had recently purchased a majority stake in small advertising and marking firm in Joburg ran by two incredible black women one was a South African and one was a Zambian I am not going to mention names here as I have already had one attempt on my life from my ex Zambian partner, The first thing the Zambian lady did was convince me to fire her partner as she was doing all the work, telling me were paying her profit for doing nothing this went to the board and her motion was passed, she then incessantly nagged me about her connections in Zambia and the opportunity’s they lay there for us after a few months I gave in and the two of us flew down to Lusaka to meet Chief Mukuni this was a fantastic experience it really was like traveling with royalty every were we went people dropped to the knees on the very sight of the Chief, After a discussing our vision Chief decided we had to set up J Holdings Zambia with a promise of projects to come from every government organisation conceivable. With only having being in Zambia a few hour Chief insisted we
ReplyDeleteregister the company he took us to meet a Boyd A Katebe an ex officer in the company registrars offices. We filled in the forms J Holdings South Africa was to hold 70% of the share while Chief Mukuni would hold 30% in his personal capacity I was told I would have to fit the bill for the registration of the company which came to a little over US$1000 a huge sum by Zambian standards. To my utter amazement Chief received a call from Boyd 2 hours latter to say the company was registered and the documents were ready. With our newly formed company we set out to the bank curiously Chief did not take us to Zanaco the most respected and advanced bank in Zambia were Chief holds most of his personal accounts but rather to Indo Zambia a relatively small bank owed by a parent company in India, On arrival we were ushered in an met the General Manager GHR Hamainza and the Chief Manager Godwin C.Ngoma. We explained our goals and I asked the bankers straight out if they wanted to be are partners they agreed and the accounts were opened with them insisting on a $1500 deposit in to each account I had now been in Zambia all of 5 hours and out of pocket R100 000 with all set up fees travel meals act.
ReplyDeleteThe day went on and we met several hi ranking government officials no appointments were necessary as we were with the Chief we simple walled in to the finance ministers officer Situmbeko Musokotwanee, Chief instructed the sectary the He was there and we taken in to his office immediately we had a brief meeting in which we explained the projects we wanted to unveil ranging from computer education medical advancements establishment of a new hospital and Our vision to supply the govement with much need public housing.
ReplyDeleteLieberthal was present before the meeting with the Minister of Finance when the chief was handed a document stating he had won a tender for the development of 4000 government homes in Livingston, Mukuni explained the deal to Lieberthal and comment that everyone in government knows if he applies for a tender he will win it, Looking back on this Lieberthal can see this was a set up. Mukuni advised Lieberthal that he wanted to undertake this Project with J Holdings. Lieberthal spends weeks working on a plan were this project could be undertaken while providing stimulus and growth to the Zambia economy all publish in Zambian newspapers and CNBC interview. Little did Lieberthal know that while he was busy with the press Mukuni was no were to be found as he had taken all of Lieberthal idea’s and singed over the contract to the Chinese. Lieberthal had met one of Mukuni’s sidekicks a Roger V.Z. Lee President of the Mukuni Royal Establishment and an honorary prince in Mukuni court. The whole day Mukuni had been avoiding Lieberthal and had done a deal to outsource the housing project to the Chinese they were to build precast housing and not use any local labour or bring about local economic stimulation. When Lieberthal was questioned by us on why he thought Mukuni had done this his answer was decise and straight to the point in the J Holdings proposal the profits were not large and would take 5 – 7years before J Holdings Zambia made any money out of the deal obviously in outsourcing the deal to the Chinese Mukuni would receive a lump sum upfront. The fact that the J Holdings project would have provided employment to 5000 of his villagers did not stop him from taking this action.
Lieberthal shrugged off this blatant stab in the back stating “sometimes greed takes over were ambition left off” He also had many other iment projects that were just awaiting “sign off” from the various ministers he had met with Mukuni.
ReplyDeleteLittle did Lieberthal know this was just the begging of Mukuni’s betrayal? What would ensue were numerous trips to Zambia and back. Every trip promising a new project and greater growth. On one occasion Lieberthal flew Mukuni to Johannesburg all expenses paid with a presidential suit at the Melrose arch hotel were Mukuni had come under the orcabsis of discussing the contract for the 4000 homes as well as meeting with Hennery Banda President Banda’s son and advisor at this meeting we had been assured by Mukuni that J Holdings Zambia would handle all PR for the upcoming election. When Banda arrived at J Hodlings offices he seemed to know nothing about this. Banda and Mukuni spoke to each other is there mother tongue and Banda quickly got on board making empty promises. On one of Lieberthal's trips to Zambia his uncle Wynne Lieberthal a Professor of Orthopaedic surgery accompanied him. Mukuni immediately took a shine to the prof and asked him if he would consider taking a post at the Zambia University teaching hospital. The prof agreed and as normal they went off to meet the CEO of the UTM Dr L Chikoya the meeting seemed to go incredibly well for both Lieberthal with the hospital agreeing to both employ the professor and procure medical equipment from J holdings.
On return to SA Prof Lieberthal eagerly awaited his letter of appointment of months of waiting and Prof Lieberthal turning down other illustrious job opportunities in SA they a received a call from Mukuni stating that he had the contract ready for Prof Lieberthal to sign and start work. Once again the J Holdings team was on the way to Zambia this time it was to be all the senior board member flying down as they were told various contracts were ready to be singed. The team arrived in Livingston were they were treated like royalty escorted from the air craft by passed customs and taken to the presidesial lounge were they waited for their bags to be collected and passports prosed on their behalf. On this trip Mukuni offered to give a prime piece of land to J Holdings Zambia for the purpose of a self-catering resort once again Lieberthal worked on the plans making sure to make use of all local labour and materials and to provide long term employment to the people of the Mukuni village. The deal was done and Mukuni was sent to transfer the land to the Zambia operation within three days. Meanwhile the team was enroute from Livingstone to Lusaka Mukuni asked Prof Lieberthal if he would mind if they stopped off at a friend of his would had been suffering from a broken clavicle the Proff graciously agreed and made the house call.
ReplyDeleteOnce in Lusaka when the prof questioned Mukuni were the letter of appointment was witch he had claimed to have in his hands the day he called. Know was strangely awaiting a signature.
ReplyDeleteOn arrival in Lusaka were the J Holdings team were to sign various contracts they were told it was a formality but that they had to put on a presentation for various dignitaries with only 7 hours’ notice and at a cost of over R100 000 the presentation went ahead with Mukuni being the guest of honour along with various heads of state and the MMD.
Once again the J Holdings team left Zambia empty handed and out of pocket at this stage it was evident to Lieberthal that it was unlikely that anything would come to fruition.
Months went by with lots of phones and generally been given the run around while Lieberthal had begun to accept that Mukuni did not have the pull he claimed to he still trusted this mystical man and Mukuni assured him all the contracts would come in due course at this stage Lieberthal did not believe they would but still firmly believed in the deal for the self-catering resort as there were no obstacles simply a transfer of land. Mukuni then demanded that Lieberthal pay the cost of having the land surveyed yet another R100 000 was paid to Mukuni in 2010.
Mukini has not trasfered the land and refuses to refund Lieberthal the moneys paid at this stage Lieberthal is persing legal charges though Interpol and the UN as it is unlikely the Zambian authritys will take any action against King Mukuni
ReplyDeleteIn sumery if you are considering doing business in Zambia don’t, Mukuni often braged to Lieberthal that no one gets a buissness in to Livingston with out him getting a piece of the pie look no further than the fact he is a share holder and director of Sothern Sun Livingston
Operation Think Tank R1 000 000
ReplyDeleteJ Holdings Group
Is running a program for University Students of all ages to Brain Storm and Lunch new business to add to our private equity group
We are looking to form a 10 Member group. J Holdings will provide all venture capital. Successful applicants will be shareholders in this venture
Should the business model work
We are looking for People interested in the following fields
Computer Majors
Accounting Majors
Business Majors
Philosophy Majors
Finance Majors
Political and journalism
Art & Graphic
Engineers
If you are a person with an entrepreneur flair contact me at Jayson@iburst.co.za