Who is Jonathan Clark

Untitled Part 10

                                                                                     CHAPTER TEN

                                                                                   THE FIRST MOVE

Eighteen months had past since the first meeting with Oman Cabuti. Jonathan although receiving regular updates from Angela was worried. His investment in West Africa had now reached $3 million dollars, when out of the blue the phone call came, it was Angela Rawllings she simply said, "Global have been in touch"

Jonathan decided to call Oman Cabuti prior to his first discussion with the Oil Giant. "Hello Mr Clark" he said, in his usual friendly voice, it has been a long time, I take it Miss Rawllings has informed you of Global,s approach. Their representative has called and as suspected would like to have a one on one meeting with myself to discuss a quick deal for the areas of land we have highlighted. How would you like to proceed after all the land belongs to you?

"It is good to speak with you Minister I must admit it has been a worrying time" replied Jonathan, "now this is the news we have been waiting for, but we must be cautious and we must be prepared. Have you spoken to the relevant Ministers in your neighboring Countries?

"Yes I have" he replied, "they received the same call and await your instructions"

Jonathan paused for a moment to compile his response. "I would say Minister Cabuti that we stall for two or three weeks, this will give us time to meet, discuss figures and decide a strategy on the way forward. If you can arrange a meeting of all four Countries for sometime next week possibly Thursday 20th Sept. Myself and Angela will fly over this coming Monday the 17th this will give us two weeks to prepare for the meeting with Global and any suggestions will be more than welcome"

"I will arrange this Jonathan" said Minister Cabuti, "let me know your time of arrival and I will take care of the rest"

"Jonathan had a buzz he had not felt for a long time. "This is huge" he said to Angela as she walked into his office for their pre-trip meeting, as usual note pad in hand writing down random figures. "Where do we start? said Jonathan, "these Countries have different needs, different currencies and different Religions, what do we know of these things. The way I see it whichever strategy we adopt must be the same for all four Countries regardless of the amount of Oil that they individually produce. Therefor we would need a Regulator to balance the amount of Oil being produced, in order to balance the economies of the different Nations. Financial deals that we reach should be based on not the richest Nation nor the poorest but the financial middle ground" He explained all of this to Angela who nodded in agreement saying, "Let,s put some figures and percentages together, we don.t have much time"

"Constance" said Jonathan, "I must pay a visit to our suppliers in West Africa. I will be gone for no more than three weeks. I have been informed of new factories producing similar products to our own, therefor there may be a deal to be done. the problem being, they are in different Countries. I leave tomorrow so let,s have a nice evening, open a bottle of wine and we will take the night as it comes"

Constance after meeting Angela was now calm with their travelling together and was up to speed with the plans for a further four new Stores, she proposed a toast to "new beginnings"

Jonathan and Angela arrived at Conakry Airport at 11am on the 17th Sept 1982. They were escorted to the same Hotel by the same Government Minister and were asked the same questions by the same male receptionist as before, "two singles or a double" he received the same answer. Minister Cabuti was notified and a meeting arranged for noon the following day.

The conversation was cordial if a little subdued. Jonathan related some of the suggestions he had come up with following his discussions with Angela which seemed to go down favorably with the Minister who again reaffirmed that if drilling was unsuccessful Jonathan would receive his initial outlay plus 20% to cover expenses. Jonathan thanked him for his time and suggested that he would deliver his ideas for all four Countries at their next meeting, to be attended by the relevant officials from each Nation in two day,s time.