Knowledge katti

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He also co-founded Tri Linear Investments Namibia and Intaka Namibia, while earlier holding a directorship at UNX Energy Corp.

These accounts held Swiss franc 11 900 (N$99 000) and Swiss franc 15,6 million (N$112,9 million), respectively.

The third account was opened in December 2012 and held about Swiss franc 4,4 million (N$57 million).

By 2014, these three accounts held a total amount of around N$480 000.
Records show that the bank accounts were closed on separate dates – in 2012, 2014 and 2013.

The Swiss money was flowing around the time that Katti boasted to The Namibian that he pledged N$500 000 at a fundraising dinner aimed at funding the Swapo 2012 congress which saw the election of Geingob as the ruling party’s vice president and candidate to become the state president.

The dinner held at State House was dubbed an engagement with business people aimed at influencing government policies.
Geingob’s critics in Swapo said the gala dinner was nothing short of buying power.

Yet, Credit Suisse appears to have turned a blind eye to Katti’s proximity to powerful Namibians despite years of media coverage questioning how he operates, all easily verifiable from a simple Google search.

“Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and inferences about the bank’s purported business practices,” the bank said in a statement.

THE FIXER

Insight Magazine was among the Namibian publications tracking Katti’s controversial deals.

In March 2010, the magazine ran a front-page story titled ‘The Fixer’, reporting that the FIC kept a close watch on Katti’s transactions “amid reports that he has shared the money with some board members and management of Namcor as well as government officials”.

“The beneficiaries are people who supposedly have made it easy for Katti to acquire and hold onto exploration licences, as well as to assure foreign investors that the government was a part of his projects”, the article claimed.

At the time, First National Bank had asked Katti to explain the source of funds he put in bank accounts in Windhoek.
FNB subsequently shut down his account in 2018, allegedly because he did not provide satisfactory guarantees of the proceeds.

Insight also reported on how Katti transferred close to N$2 million to the then former petroleum commissioner Immanuel Mulunga, now Namcor managing director.

The funds were paid between 2009 and 2010.

Sintana’s exploration efforts align with this trajectory, making its assets a speculative but potentially lucrative bet.

Katti’s Record in Natural Resources

Katti has been circling the oil and gas space in Namibia for decades, wearing many hats along the way. I cannot comment on this issue,” he said at the time.
Mbetse died last year.
His family has called on Katti to come clean.

“The contents of your story are accurate.

He remains one of the wealthiest and most visible figures in the country’s natural resources landscape — both praised for his entrepreneurial drive and scrutinized for his political connections.

The Bet Ahead

With $11 million now tied up in Sintana stock, Katti’s fortunes are linked to how Namibia’s oil frontier develops.

What I can say is that the entry of Woodside Energy into the country is a good thing,” he said.

WHEELER DEALER

Pancontinental Energy is widely known among industry players for being a junior operator.

They bought the interest of Paragon Investment for N$32 million in a different oil block in 2012.

Paragon is owned by politically connected businessmen Desmond Amunyela and Lazarus Jacobs.

The latest agreement comes at a time when minister of mines and energy Tom Alweendo said his ministry has evidence that those awarded exploration rights without the requisite capability to do exploration have created a trading market for such rights.

Speaking in the National Assembly last week, Alweendo said: “This is tantamount to auctioning exploration rights, except that the revenue so derived does not accrue to the state, but to the few individuals who were lucky enough to acquire such rights.”

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) executive director Graham Hopwood yesterday said the Ministry of Mines and Energy has over the years encouraged foreign oil investors to link up with Namibian briefcase companies often owned by the politically connected.

He said these companies sit on petroleum exploration licence arrangements, sometimes for years, waiting for an oil major to show an interest in the hope of a large pay-off.

“The recent offshore discoveries have created a bonanza for these briefcase or shell companies and those who nominally own them, as well as their beneficial owners,” he said.

He said it is crucial that the benefits of these oil resources go to the people of Namibia and not just a chosen few.

Alweendo, Woodside Energy, Pancontinental Energy and the petroleum commissioner in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Maggy Shino, did not respond to questions sent to them this week.

Credit – Taken from – Katti could pocket N$42m from 1% oil block sale – The Namibian

• By Shinovene Immanuel | 4 March 2022

BUSINESSMAN Knowledge Katti stashed more than N$100 million in a Switzerland bank from 2010 to 2013 – the period he was accused of cheating his business partners, doing favours for politicians, and speculating with oil and phosphate licences in Namibia.

It was also around the same time that the Bank of Namibia’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) started questioning the flow of money from his bank accounts, some of which was allegedly paid to government officials to access exploration deals.

Katti is among more than 20 Namibians or people linked to Namibia named in the leak of secret bank accounts held by Credit Suisse in Switzerland.
Switzerland is a well-known destination for hiding money from all over the world, in part because of its tight banking secrecy laws and business culture.

Banks are increasingly under pressure to be extra careful when dealing with suspicious clients, widely known as ‘politically exposed’ individuals.
Politically exposed individuals are those who are or have been entrusted with a public function, such as that of president or minister.

The definition, according to the FIC, extends to their close associates.
Katti is considered politically exposed because of his close ties with politicians such as president Hage Geingob, ex-energy minister Obeth Kandjoze, who is currently the director of the National Planning Commission, former justice minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, and former Public Service Commission member Teckla Lameck.

Katti has paid N$200 000 towards Geingob’s medical expenses at the same time he was executing his oil speculation deals.

Questions sent to Katti have not been responded to.
The businessman has in the past denied any wrongdoing relating to his role in oil deals.

It is not clear where Katti’s Switzerland millions originated from, but the cash flow coincided with his involvement in two natural resource-based deals between 2010 to 2013.

This includes speculating with oil exploration licences acquired from the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) and buying into a phosphate mining company, which he co-owns with Oman’s richest businessman, Mohammed Al Barwani.

The speculator has over 18 years made exploration prospecting licences his turf, inviting criticism that he profited from getting the most promising spots of where it is believed Namibia had the best oil deposits.

Four years ago, The Namibian reported that Katti’s South African business partner, millionaire banker Mxolisi Mbetse, accused Katti of making off with more than N$60 million that Mbetse believed should have been split between them.

Now, a leak of documents known as ‘Suisse Secrets’ has revealed that Katti held more than N$100 million in a bank account of Switzerland’s Credit Suisse.

More than 163 journalists from 48 media outlets in 39 countries across the world – including The Namibian – spent months analysing bank account information leaked from Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest lender.

The leak included more than 18 000 accounts that held in excess of US$100 billion at their peaks.

Katti is not considered to have committed any crime.

THE DECEMBER BANKER

Bank records show Katti created three accounts at Credit Suisse.
He opened two accounts in December 2010.

It’s the other joint venture partners selling among themselves. Katti is considered a politically connected individual due to his close ties with president Hage Geingob, planning minister Obeth Kandjoze and Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga.

Mulunga yesterday said Namcor is aware of the deal between Pancontinental, Custos and Woodside Energy.

“But this has nothing to do with Namcor.

Joyce Kondo

The two denied wrongdoing, but payments made to the state official responsible for regulating the industry that enriched Katti raised eyebrows at the time.

Katti easily acquired oil licences when his friend Kandjoze was Namcor’s exploration manager and later managing director at the national oil company.

‘CHEATER’

The latest leak of bank records comes around five years after The Namibian reported that a South African businessman accused Katti of cheating him of around N$60 million.

The deal revolved around a joint venture that consisted of Katti and South African tycoon Mxolisi Mbetse exploring three Namibian oil blocks.
Around 2004, Katti approached the South African about an oil deal in Namibia.

The two partnered in a company registered in September 2005, named the Namibia Industrial Development Group (NIDG).

Mbetse’s Industrial Development Group would own 70%, and two Katti-owned companies, Cumoxi Investments and Knowledge Resources, the remaining 30%.

By June 2008, the joint venture was on the verge of losing the three oil blocks because it had not paid licence fees, and also failed to carry out exploration work.

The government gave the company until August 2008 to invest, or risk losing the concessions.

In a 2008 email to his South African partner, Katti was sure he would convince the government not to cancel the NIDG’s exploration licence, saying he would “use some funds to work the magic”.

Katti persuaded his South African partner to move their 70% interest in NIDG into a Namibian shell company he controlled.
But Katti had other plans.

My chairman, Mxolisi Mbetse, died trying to recover what was rightfully due to him, and Knowledge Katti knows the truth,” Thandana Mbetse, the nephew of the late business tycoon, said last week.

“We tried to recover what was due to us through the legal channels to no avail,” he said.

SHIPPING PROFITS

Revelations about Katti’s Switzerland millions possibly linked to the sale of Namibian oil exploration blocks brings to the fore the debate on how effective Namibia’s natural resources tax system is.

The government introduced an income tax on the sale of mineral licences in 2011, around the same time that Katti announced at State House that Namibia has oil along its coast.

Four years later, the government amended the laws to tax the profits from the sale of petroleum licences or sale of shares of a company holding a petroleum licence.

“To ensure equitable taxation of profits on the disposal of Namibian natural resources licences or rights, income tax was also introduced on profits from the sale of petroleum licences or sale of shares of a company holding a petroleum licence,” says Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra) spokesperson Tonateni Shidhudhu.

Shidhudhu says oil and gas licences became trading commodities with no contribution to state revenue.
“Income tax was therefore introduced on the profits of oil and gas licences or rights,” he says.

“This means all Namibian-sourced income must be declared and taxes paid to Namra – regardless of whether the money is kept in a foreign bank account or a Namibian bank account.”

“Profits from the sale of natural resource licences such as oil and gas are taxable in Namibia,” Shidhudhu says.
Katti has not explained whether he has declared and paid taxes on the funds he has stashed in Switzerland.

SPECULATOR

Katti is no stranger to controversy, especially around accusations of doing favours for officials who preside over affairs regulating his businesses.
Geingob has in a way helped Katti’s business.

In 2013, Geingob advised former Navachab gold mine owners to “pay special attention” and consider selling their N$1,2 billion mine to a consortium that was co-owned by Katti.
That deal never went through.

In 2013, Geingob led a Namibian business delegation to Dubai and Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and Muscat in Oman.

Katti was part of that delegation, and has now partnered with Al Barwani – Oman’s richest businessman, who wants to mine phosphate off Namibia’s coast.

Katti’s other business partners include Uruguayan businessman Gaston Savoi who has been accused of paying kickbacks and using strategically placed officials in South Africa to win tenders.

Savoi has denied the charges in what is known as the ‘Amigos case’.
Katti and Savoi are partners in a state contract meant to supply oxygen to Namibian hospitals.

In 2010, a World Health Organisation (WHO) investigation found that Katti ‘s company Intaka, the government’s preferred oxygen supplier, did not meet basic global standards, bluntly declaring Intaka as unsafe.

*This article has been produced by The Namibian Investigative Unit with support from Occrp and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

He sold the oil blocks to the Canadian firm UNX Energy Corp, allegedly without consulting his South African partner.

UNX later sold the blocks to Brazilian oil firm HRT in a deal that his partner claims enriched Katti by more than N$60 million in cash and shares, without giving his partners “a cent”.
Mbetse confirmed to The Namibian in 2017 that there was a dispute over the oil blocks.

“The issue is being looked at by our auditors and some forensic experts.

Namibian tycoon Knowledge Katti owns stake in Sintana Energy worth $11-million

Knowledge Katti, one of Namibia’s most prominent resource entrepreneurs, has emerged as a significant player in the country’s budding oil boom through his stake in Canadian-listed Sintana Energy Inc.

Katti, 52, owns 22.49 million shares, or 6.02-percent, in Sintana — a position now valued at just over $11-million based on the company’s share price of C$0.57 ($0.37).

Katti is the chief executive officer of Custos and the director of Sintana.

He has been accused by his former South African business partners of making off with more than N$60 million from oil exploration deals they believe should have been shared among them. Analysts see the Walvis and Orange basins as frontier acreage that could transform the country’s economy if developed at scale.

Namibia’s government has made no secret of its ambitions: following recent discoveries by majors that could hold billions of barrels of recoverable reserves, officials say the southern African nation could become a mid-sized oil producer within the next decade.

For Namibia, every step forward brings the country closer to its first oil revenue.

Knowledge Katti Stands a Chance of Making Around N$42 Million

BUSINESSMAN Knowledge Katti stands a chance of making around N$42 million by selling 1% of a petroleum block joint venture near a hotspot in Namibia where oil has been discovered.

The block is situated north of recent discoveries by TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy and Shell.

In 2018, Katti and his Australian partners, Pancontinental Energy, obtained the 87 oil licence which covers oil block 2713.

The ownership of the block was divided as follows: Pancontinental Energy owns 75%, Katti owns 15%, and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) owns 10%.

Katti has become one the biggest beneficiaries of recent oil discoveries off the coast of Namibia.

He is linked to at least two or three deals involving the alleged discovery of oil in Namibia.

Last week, Pancontinental announced they have entered into a deal to sell a majority stake in their joint venture with Katti to Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer, Woodside Energy.

“Woodside and Pancontinental have signed an option deed providing Woodside a future election to enter the deep-water Namibia PEL 87 exploration project,” the statement said.

According to Pancontinental, Woodside Energy will fully fund an estimated US$35 million (N$640 million) three-dimensional seismic survey.

In addition, the statement said, Woodside Energy will pay Pancontinental US$1,5 million (N$25,5 million) in cash.

As a result, Woodside Energy will have the exclusive option to enter the PEL 87 licence and joint venture with 56% and rights to run the partnership.

Pancontinental was initially set to end up with a 19% stake in the partnership if Woodside bought the 56%.

“To ensure Pancontinental retains at least a 20% interest in the project if Woodside exercises its option, Pancontinental has, for a consideration of US$1,5 million (N$25,5 million), entered into an option agreement with Custos Investments (Pty) Ltd (Custos) to acquire a 1% interest from Custos by paying them a further US$1 million (N$17 million),” the statement said.

This means Pancontinental would pay Katti’s company, Custos, around N$42 million for the 1%.

Katti would be left with 14% if the transaction is concluded.

“Pancontinental has a ‘backup’ right to convert its interest to a 1,5% overriding royalty interest on revenue derived from the sale of oil or gas produced from PEL 87,” the company said.

Pancontinental’s director, Barry Rushworth, in the same statement said “energy giants are jockeying for position after major oil discoveries by Shell and Total offshore Namibia.

The company also maintains interests in Colombia’s Magdalena Basin.

In Namibia, where Shell, TotalEnergies, and QatarEnergy have recently drilled some of the most promising offshore finds in decades, Sintana has quietly positioned itself as a junior with significant upside. He also sits on the board, cementing his influence as Namibia prepares to join the ranks of Africa’s oil producers.

Sintana's push in Namibia

Sintana Energy, headquartered in Toronto, has built a diversified exploration portfolio with five offshore licenses in the Walvis and Orange basins and one onshore block in Namibia.

He set up Kunene Energy — recognized as the country’s first homegrown oil and gas explorer — and later played a key role in starting the Namibia Industrial Development Group. Pancontinental’s PEL 87 has very high potential, with contiguous geology to the discoveries”.

Questions sent to Katti this week were not answered.

He is quoted on www.offshore-energy.biz as saying the latest transaction strengthens the positioning of both Custos and Sintana in Namibia.

“Specifically in an area that has emerged as the exploration hotspot in recent years,” he said.

Sintana Energy is a Canadian oil and gas company, which through a stake in Custos Investments also has a stake in PEL 87.