Fullbright confirms Matthews’ links to Namcor deal

Fullbright Investments has confirmed that Lionel Matthews was added as transactional adviser to consult for the consortium that has been selected as a preferred bidder to construct, finance, operate and maintain oil depots for Namcor.

This was revealed in a statement released on Monday by Fullbright Investments’ corporate communications department.

The statement says in the company’s submission to Namcor, Matthews was added in a consultative capacity by Monasa Advisory & Associates.

Matthews is listed as senior associate for Monasa Advisory & Associates – a firm that is advising both Namcor and the consortium Fullbright Investments and Omahooli Solutions on a transaction to construct, finance, operate, and maintain oil depots for the state-owned oil company.

The deal, which is worth about N$1 billion, involves the management of fuel storage facilities at Ondangwa, Gobabis and Windhoek for 15 to 20 years.

“We note that our submission to Namcor to be considered as the preferred investor for this infrastructure development project was submitted on 21 January 2022, our appointed transaction adviser, Monasa Advisory and Associates (Proprietary) Limited, subsequent to the award of preferred prospective status, added Mr Matthews to their team in a consultative capacity.”

“We affirm that while we were selected as a preferred prospective investor by Namcor, our relationship remains in its infancy. No detailed scope of works, nor remuneration or capital value of the project have been determined to date,” the statement says.

This news has raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, as Matthews, a transactional adviser for Monasa Advisory & Associates, is negotiating for the position of acting managing director at Namcor, and could be involved in enforcing the same tender if he accepts the role.

Matthews has denied any wrongdoing.

The Namcor board made an announcement on 4 April that Matthews would assume leadership of the parastatal for six months, replacing suspended Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga.

However, the Namcor board and Matthews are yet to come to an agreement, mostly due to salary negotiations.

Fellow senior associate at Monasa Advisory & Associates Klaus Schade has distanced himself from the deal.

Although Schade is listed as a senior associate of Monasa Advisory & Associates – the firm which advised the consortium – he clarified that he did not work on this specific project.

Schade wrote to The Namibian last Friday, informing the newspaper that he didn’t do any work for Monasa Advisory & Associates that involved the N$1-billion Namcor tender.

“While I am honoured to be an associate of Monasa Advisory & Associates, I’m not part of all their activities, and not at all a member of the consortium that is the focus of the article.

“I’m not listed as a member of the consortium on Monasa Advisory & Associate’s website,” he said.

Schade also clarified that he is no longer the director of the Economic Association of Namibia.

He worked as the director of the Economic Association of Namibia from 2016 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn account.

Founder and managing partner of Monasa Advisory & Associates Jason Kasuto also said Schade did not do work related to Namcor.

“Monasa did not deploy him for any work related to Namcor. Our organogram is a standard illustration, from which team we then deploy members based on the client’s requirements. In this case Klaus (Schade) was not deployed,” he said.