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MODERN MINING
July 2014
MINING IN AFRICA
feature
E
xpectations are high
that mining will be
a cornerstone of Af-
rica’s development,
according to SRK
Chairman and Corporate Con-
sultant Roger Dixon, but this
would require a new approach
that focuses on collaboration
and shared value.
“Clearly there is widespread
disappointment and frustra-
tion that Africa has not reaped
the anticipated developmental benefits from
the mining of its minerals,” said Dixon.
“So it is significant that the African Mining
Vision adopted by African governments rec-
ognises that good governance and institutional
capacity are vital, as well as more effective col-
laboration with the private sector.”
The impact of mining can be seen in the sharp
rise in value created from natural resources in
Africa between 2000 and 2008, when it rose
from US$39,2 billion to US$240 billion, a six-
fold increase, according to the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
UNECA has urged better management of
mining revenues, based on more effective pub-
lic-private partnerships and closer involvement
from other stakeholders, including local com-
munities. The Commission says the priority
areas for the mining sector should be environ-
mental sustainability, effective distribution
of the benefits from extraction, the creation
of social safety nets, investment in skills and
infrastructure, and the intensification of agri-
culture to create jobs and boost food security.
Similarly, the African Mining Vision aims
at managing Africa’s minerals so the sector can
help pro-actively in lifting the continent out of
African mining
needs to
deliver
broad-based growth
A new approach is required
in African mining that
focuses on collaboration
and shared value.
Roger Dixon of SRK
Consulting (SA).
With almost a quarter of Africa’s gross domestic product now based
on extractive industries, there is growing pressure for strong leader-
ship and innovative strategies to convert the success of mining, oil
and gas businesses into sustainable growth in other sectors.
