AFRICAN MINING MINISTERS TO MEET IN MOZAMBIQUE

The 3^rd African Union (AU) Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development will be held in Maputo, Mozambique from 13-17 December on the theme: Leveraging the Africa Mining Vision for Africa’s Renaissance towards broader ownership. The conference will be preceded by a meeting of Senior Officials, which will take place on 3-15 December.

The theme has been deliberately chosen to deepen the participation by member States and their institutions in the implementation of the African Mining Vision and it takes place in the context of a sector characterized by complex relationships and competing demands, rights, and claims.

The Conference has become the premier forum on the continent for African Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources to address issues related to the development of the mineral resources in the continent. There will also be a subtheme on “Mineral Resources Governance and community Engagement.”

The objectives of the conference include: Proposing to African leaders approaches and policy options on the execution of the Action Plan for the African Mining Vision (AMV) with the aim to promote sustainable development in Africa in line with 2015 Development Agenda and 2063 Africa’s agenda;

-       Reflecting on the adequacy, relevancy and gaps in the Business Plan for the AMDC as an institutional framework which seeks to support the implementation of the AMV;

-       Enhancing ownership and participation of Member States and Regional Economic Communities in the implementation of the Action Plan for AMV and enhance the understanding of its implications on Africa’s mineral development; and Launching the African Mineral Development Centre as a project;

-       Considering modalities to strengthen forward planning and information exchange on the Action Plan for AMV among Member states and stakeholders;

The Experts in their official session will prepare and adopt a concise report on the main recommendations, Declaration and decision of their meeting, and submit it to the Conference for adoption.

In attendance will be African Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for mineral resources development, AUC and RECs’ officials. Participants will also be drawn from a broad spectrum of stake-holders including, Development Partners, representatives of UN agencies, African private sector, African Chambers of mines and industry, NGOs and CSOs, AfDB, and the World Bank.

Delegates will brainstorm on how African countries could design and implement effective strategies and policies of Mineral Resources through the African Mining Vision, which could include the promotion of value addition and economic transformation, which can reduce dependence on commodity exports, thus promoting sustainable long-term growth. This, according to the organizers will ensure that the benefits of such growth are widely shared in order to reduce poverty and improve the standard of living for all Africans.

The AU Executive Council, in Decision No. EX.CL/Dec.368 (XI), instituted a statutory Conference for the African Union Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development with the aim of developing common and consistent positions on issues pertaining to the management of Africa’s mineral resources.

 The Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources

Development (CAMRMRD) has taken deliberate steps to address challenges in the mineral sector, inter alia, the formulation of the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) and its Action Plan and endorsement to establish an African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) to provide strategic technical support capacity for implementing the Action Plan for AMV.  

In October 2008, the first Session of AU Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, considered the AMV as a strategic framework for the management of Africa’s mineral resources in order to promote growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development in Africa. The AU Heads of State and government, at their assembly in Addis in February 2009, welcomed the AMV and requested the “AU Ministers in charge of Mineral Resources Development to develop a concrete action plan for its realization”.