Businessman Haddis Tilahun is linked to two European businessmen implicated in a corruption case in France, in a scandal which also touches President Hage Geingob.
Tilahun, the co-owner of the United Africa Group (UAG), is linked to two former Areva senior executives, Daniel Wouters and Sébastien de Montessus.
This is according to a report published by Africa Intelligence, a respected news website that reports on the mining sector on the continent.
Wouters and De Montessus were Areva executives when the French state-owned nuclear company bought several mines in Africa, including in Namibia, at inflated prices.
The link between the two executives and Namibia's politically connected Tilahun comes a month after French media reported in April that corruption investigators in France were querying two contracts through which Areva paid US$6,9 million (around N$80 million at today's exchange rate) between 2009 and 2010 to Tilahun's UAG.
The payments appear to be linked to Tilahun's role in facilitating the sale of UraMin to Areva.
The controversy started in 2004 when a little-known Canada-listed company, UraMin, bought a mining company that held the mineral rights to the Trekkopje uranium deposit in the Namib Desert for US$4 million.
In 2007, Areva (now called Orano), bought UraMin's Trekkopje uranium mine for US$2,5 billion, at a time uranium prices were soaring. The transaction included UraMin's mineral rights in South Africa, Namibia and the Central African Republic.
However, the UraMin price tag turned out to be inflated, and implicated several officials, executives and politicians who benefited from the sale.
Detailed questions sent to Tilahun last Thursday remained unanswered by yesterday.
Africa Intelligence published an in-depth report last week, focusing on several aspects of the Areva scandal, such as the involvement of Daniel Wouters, who was Areva's head of development when the French company bought the overpriced assets.
"As head of development and acquisitions in Areva's mining division, he was the one to oversee the UraMin acquisition from start to end," the report said.
According to the report, Wouters, a Belgian banker, admitted to a French judge that he was familiar with UraMin shareholders before being hired by Areva.
This was confirmation to investigators who suspected such ties since 2016 when they raided his house and seized documents, the report said.
The seized documents alerted the police to the owners of a mining company called Swala Resources, which was founded by Wouters in 2003, Africa Intelligence said.
According to the report, "another of Swala's shareholders was also involved in UraMin: Namibian businessman Haddis Tilahun, who became Areva's partner for Namibia, where the French group picked up uranium mine Trekkopje via UraMin".
The story explained that Tilahun was picked by Areva to negotiate with the Namibian government after the French company bought Trekkopje.
As then trade minister, Geingob (who had previously been paid a consulting fee of N$3 million by UraMin) approved giving Trekkopje export processing zone status, allowing it to avoid paying taxes for five years, a privilege not enjoyed by other uranium miners, such as Rössing Uranium and Langer Heinrich.
The Africa Intelligence report also focused on why Sébastien de Montessus, the former head of Areva's mining division, was charged by French authorities in March this year.
"It was based on a statement made by one of Ras al-Khaimah-based Helin International's directors that French judge Renaud van Ruymbeke indicted Areva's former director of mines, French expert Sebastien de Montessus, on 29 March," the report said.
The article added that De Montessus advised the Emirates-based firm, Helin International, in 2010 to buy the Cape Arrow super-yacht in partnership with Tilahun, who was Areva's partner in Namibia.
This is not the only link between the former Areva executives and Tilahun.
The Namibian reported in 2012 that Areva paid about N$30 million to Tilahun's UAG on 16 April 2010. The signatories of the bank transfer from Areva to UAG were Wouters and De Montessus.
Tilahun's UAG has over the years claimed to be a shareholder in the Erongo desalination plant, known as the Areva plant.
The plant, situated 30 kilometres north of Swakopmund, which purifies sea water into potable water for the Erongo region, is apparently worth over N$3 billion.
The latest reports add to the Areva scandal's puzzle which has haunted Geingob for years.
French state-owned news service, Agence France-Presse (AFP), reported last month that De Montessus was charged on 29 March with "bribery of a foreign public official", "private bribery" and "breach of trust".
The French news agency relied on sources close to the French investigation, while an article in the French weekly newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, said the payments to Geingob were made from April 2008 to December 2009, when he was trade minister.
The timeline of the payments, as reported by AFP, contradicts Geingob's previous comments that he was paid when he was a Swapo backbencher in the National Assembly, and not when he was trade minister.
Geingob, through his lawyer, has denied being paid by Areva, but admitted that he was paid N$3 million for his role in helping UraMin renew its licence.
