To better take advantage of emerging opportunities in Africa, African mining companies must adopt a sustainable approach to resource exploitation, speakers indicated during a meeting held Saturday in Durban (600 km from Pretoria).
“African countries have engaged in ambitious policies to benefit from the mining boom of critical materials for the energy transition, but these countries must now develop new policies to encourage the processing of these minerals on the continent and increase tax revenues while mitigating environmental and social impacts,” participants at this conference initiated under the theme “Perspectives of the African Mining Sector” stated.
They argue that sustainability must be at the heart of these efforts, contending that investors increasingly demand adherence to environmental, social, and governance principles, recognizing their role in mitigating risks and ensuring the sustainability of mining projects.
“Mining projects that integrate these principles not only have a better chance of attracting investments but also of building stronger relationships with local communities and stakeholders,” they noted.
Speakers observed, in this regard, a dual dynamic in the allocation of exploration budgets for mineral resources in Africa, noting that historically mining countries are losing relative ground to new emerging countries in mining production. Several factors explain this downward trend, including the significant depth of several extraction sites that have reached their limits of exploitability, insecurity in mines, and the degradation of infrastructure.
The current dynamism of the African mining sector, they emphasize, is largely driven by gold production, knowing that South Africa has the largest reserves on the continent and the third largest in the world. However, other African regions, particularly West Africa, are on the verge of becoming significant producers, as is the case with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ghana.
In order to better benefit from mineral resources, speakers recommend that governments and African mining companies create environments that attract sustainable investors, strengthen governance practices, and promote equitable benefit-sharing frameworks. This means they must ensure that capital allocation prioritizes long-term resilience, sustainability, and the sharing of benefits derived from natural resource wealth.
Thus, the participants agree that the African mining sector is poised for a bright future but must capitalize on the ongoing energy transition worldwide for genuine restructuring and sustainable exploitation, through bold and proactive decisions.