Mining Ministers to meet in Addis

African ministers responsible for mineral resources development will meet next week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to implement the mining policy framework. According to a statement from the African Union (AU) Secretariat, the 2nd AU conference of ministers responsible for minerals is slated for December 12-16. The forum will run under the theme ‘Building a sustainable future for Africa’s extractive industry from vision into action’. “This is the perfect time for mining ministers to meet again. Two years ago they agreed on a policy framework for linking mining with development, now there is increasing momentum as we move forward to implementation,” said Ayoup El-Rashidi Zaid, Senior Policy Officer at the African Union. The conference expects ministers, government officials and donors together with industry representatives and civil society organizations to chart ways on how to take Africa’s mining vision forward. A key priority of the Africa mining vision is to see the mining industry becoming a catalyst for broad-based sustainable development. The mining vision argues that until now mining has been run as an enclave activity, meaning that the economic and social linkages within Africa itself have not been as strong as they should be. The conference borrows its title from the African mining vision adopted by Heads of State and Government at the February 2009 AU summit following the first meeting of in October 2008. “It’s high time there was a rethink on the way mining regimes are set up in Africa - at the very least, governments need to move beyond a “tax and spend” approach to their mining policy and start thinking outside the “mining box,” noted El-Rashidi.“By narrowing focus on mining itself, we have neglected to work out how to make use of mining as a catalyst for development – now that’s all changing and it’s time to shift the paradigm,” he pointed out. frank.kanyesigye@newtimes.co.rw