Maximising the Potential of Africa 's Mining Sector

Addis Ababa , 25 August 2008 (ECA): The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on 20-22 August convened a meeting of the technical taskforce which has been established to draft the new Africa Mining Vision 2050 in preparation for the forthcoming inaugural African Union conference of ministers responsible for mineral resources development.

The taskforce, which was jointly established by the African Union (AU) and ECA, also includes representatives from the African Mining Partnership (the intergovernmental forum of African ministers responsible for mining), the African Development Bank, UNCTAD, and UNIDO.

At the end of an intensive two days of brainstorming at ECA's headquarters, a comprehensive draft vision document was formulated which will now be forwarded to the First African Union Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development in October for review and discussion.

The mining ministers' conference will be convened on 13-17 October 2008, in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia under the theme “Building a sustainable future for Africa 's extractive industry: The imperatives”. It will be the first time that African ministers responsible for mining will have met under a formal regional rubric since 1997.

The regional ministerial meeting is a high level effort to design a strategy for Africa to better harness its bountiful mineral resources. In that context, the Africa Mining Vision 2050 will provide critical guidance for the conceptualization and implementation of this strategy and related programmes in the mining sector over the next half century.

Overall, October's conference is expected to develop a blue print/action plan on mineral resources development in Africa to be presented to the January 2009 AU Summit of Heads of State and Government.