Mnangagwa worry over 'gratuitous negativity' around oil find

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has blasted the "gratuitous negativity" which followed his announcement that Australia's Invictus Energy had found oil and gas deposits in the northern Muzarabani area of the country.

But in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Invictus poured cold water on claims of an oil bonanza saying "an oil or gas discovery has not been made" but said there were indications of a "working petroleum system" which could only be confirmed by a planned exploration well.

Claiming that preliminary indications strongly pointed to a "good find" Mnangagwa said "elsewhere, indications half as bright as ours here would have been met with spontaneous outbursts of sustained national euphoria."

"Not here where they are met with cynicism and derisive disbelief," Mnangagwa said in his weekly column in the state media yesterday.

"We witnessed a determined effort to rubbish the findings; not on any given scientific grounds, but merely from visceral scepticism and an inexplicable propensity for
negativity."

Mnangagwa added: "It is as if negativity and cynicism have become a new science and a powerful reflex in our country."