Sixteen African ministers responsible for mining in their respective countries have launched the African Mining Partnership (AMP), with the aim of championing and coordinating mining and mineral-related initiatives under the auspices of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
Following a two-day meeting of AMP participants in Cape Town, South Africa’s Minister of Minerals and Energy, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said the ministers have identified mining programmes and projects in six key areas: artisanal or small-scale mining, harmonisation of mining policies, environment and sustainable development, beneficiation, human resource development, and promoting foreign investment and indigenous participation in mining ventures.
“For example, issues of safety are critical in small-scale mining, which provides a welcome alternative for thousands of poverty-stricken and hungry people,” the minister noted. “National policies can be coordinated, as they can be in the area of environment and sustainable development — in many cases countries have laws that need to be amended to be consistent with United Nations’ and other international guidelines.”
Also, she added, the quality of data available on mining in many countries needs to be improved in order to be able to promote these countries as investment destinations.
At the same time, in the area of human resource development a Nepad approach can be adopted that identifies centres of excellence in learning in the field of mining, to which aspiring mining experts can be sent.
An overriding project that is “critical” in the development of Nepad programmes is the harmonisation of mining policies across countries, Mlambo- Ngcuka said. As resources occur in clusters that often defy political boundaries, it makes sense to have a common policy on how African countries can better position themselves in global markets.
“In the Southern African Development Community, no less than five countries produce substantial amounts of diamonds,” she elaborated. “And look at the neighbours who produce oil on the western edge of the continent.”
According to Mlambo-Ngcuka, the AMP expects to receive a report-back from the leaders of each of the projects in July. — I-Net Bridge
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