Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies (MIDROC) is a mining and oil company owned by Saudi billionaire Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi.[1] It has operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Through its Corral Petroleum Holdings AB, MIDROC has become a major independent oil company.[2]

The company has perpetrated extreme human rights violations at Lega Dembi gold mine in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia by improper disposal of hazardous waste including mercury, arsenic, and cyanide.[3]

Operations

Midroc has operations across three continents, over 50,000 employees and a turnover of $25 billion. The group is active in various sectors, including industry, venture capital, oil and fuel, production, energy and mining.

MIDROC Ethiopia

MIDROC Ethiopia was established in 1994. In 2011 it made a profit of 1.3bn birr (US$70m).[4]

MIDROC has major gold mining interests in Ethiopia[5][6] and it is reported that MIDROC Gold Mine (a subsidiary of MIDROC Ethiopia) has paid the Ethiopian Government 100.1 million birr in royalties, the largest contribution of any mining company.[7] Midroc Gold is Ethiopia's sole gold exporter. Its Lega Dembi Mine has a yearly average production of around 4,500 kg of gold and silver.[8]

Human rights violations

Between 1997 and 2009, MIDROC's expansion of the mine caused deforestation and displaced Indigenous Gujii people from their ancestral land,[9] denying their right to free, prior and informed consent.[10] Locals have reported that mine security shoots at people if they get near the mine, and that employment opportunities have systematically excluded local people.[3]

Local people allege that Midroc dumped chemicals into rivers that residents used for drinking and for livestock, causing birth deformities and animal deaths.[11] Protesters contend water and air pollution from the mine have caused respiratory illnesses, miscarriages, birth defects, and disabilities.[12] Other reports include tumors, headaches, skin conditions, and vision problems.[9] One healthcare provider reported that, "Mothers are having miscarriages every single day...I am not seeing this in other places, only around the mining site.”[12] A field study in 2018-2019 found 19 children with "serious deformities and paralysis" in a survey of 36 households.[3]

Protests against the mine have been brutally repressed with mass arrests, killings, and disappearances.[3] A 2016 report by Human Rights Watch found that, “Security forces committed numerous human rights violations in response to the protests, including arbitrary arrest and detention, killings and other uses of excessive force, torture and ill-treatment in detention, and enforced disappearances.”[10]

Other projects

MIDROC owns 70% of National Oil Ethiopia, which competes with YBF, TAF and five other companies in the national petrol market[13] and is establishing a major steel plant (Tossa) in Amhara. This latter is Ethiopia's first industrial steel production plant and is intended to meet a major increase in domestic demand, estimated to rise from 1.2m tonnes to 3.1m tonnes per annum between 2011 and 2014.[14]

In August 2008, MIDROC opened a small cement factory on the outskirts of the town, which produces 4,000 quintals of cement per day. Some of the output of this factory was used in the construction of the larger Derba Midroc Cement Factory, which is located 70 kilometers north of Addis Ababa and is the largest cement factory in Ethiopia.[15] North Holdings Investment announced 17 October 2009 that it had completed a feasibility study for its own cement factory at Dejen, which would be built on 450 hectares of land. Construction of the factory will cost around US$1.6 billion, and once completed it would have a production capacity of nine million tons a year.[16]

MIDROC also built the Sheraton Addis hotel.[17]

Midroc Europe

Midroc Europe was a privately owned corporate group based in Sweden active in the properties, construction, industry and environmental technology sectors.[18] In January 2022, the Midroc Group, which included Midroc Europe, became Granitor.[19]

Midroc Middle East

Midroc Middle East is a privately owned corporate group active in the engineering and construction and the industrial sectors.[20]

  • ABV Rock Group Ltd
  • EG&G Middle East
  • Saudi ABV
  • Yanbu Steel
  • Metals Services
  • Trans Desert Transport
  • Golden Leaves

References

  1. ↑ "MIDROC Ethiopia Home Page". Midroc-ethiopia.com.et. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  2. ↑ "The Petroleum SectorMidroc.com". Midroc.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Regassa, Asebe (2022-09-01). "Frontiers of Extraction and Contestation: dispossession, exclusion and local resistance against MIDROC Laga-Dambi Gold Mine, southern Ethiopia" (PDF). The Extractive Industries and Society. 11: 100980. doi:10.1016/j.exis.2021.100980. ISSN 2214-790X. S2CID 238647498.
  4. ↑ 2Merkato.com Business Portal October 14, 2011
  5. ↑ Newsdire April 13, 2011 Archived January 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Bloomberg Report November 12, 2010(subscription required)
  7. ↑ Addis Fortune August 8, 2011
  8. ↑ Addis Fortune October 23, 2011
  9. 1 2 CEDAW (2019). "Urgent appeal submitted to: David R. Boyd UN Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment" (PDF). law.northwestern.edu.
  10. 1 2 "The impact of toxic contamination from the Lega Dembi gold mine on the Indigenous Guji people in Ethiopia". OHCHR.org. 2022.
  11. ↑ "Protesters Demand Ethiopia Cancel Billionaire's Gold License". Bloomberg.com. 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  12. 1 2 TesfaNews (2018-05-07). "Ethiopians Protest MIDROC Gold Mining License Renewal". TesfaNews. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  13. ↑ Addis Fortune December 27, 2010
  14. ↑ Addis Fortune October 30, 2011 Archived November 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Wudineh Zenebe, "Ethiopia: Dejen Cement by Derba Midroc Hits Market", originally printed in Addis Fortune 12 August 2008. (accessed 14 August 2009)(subscription required)
  16. ↑ "Ethiopia: Company Finalizes Feasibility Study For Cement Factory", Somaliland Times, issue 403 (accessed 17 November 2009) Archived 23 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ "Home". midroc-ethiopia.com.et.
  18. ↑ "Hem". Midroc.se. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  19. ↑ "Midroc becomes Granitor". granitor.se. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  20. ↑ "Middle EastMidroc.com". Midroc.com. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
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