L Hendricks: African Mining Partnership Ministers’ meeting

6 February 2006

Honourable Ministers,
Programme Director
Distinguished guests from governments and from business
Ladies and gentlemen

Welcome to this third meeting of the AMP. At today’s meeting we are able to
discuss very important matters that impact on Africa. President Mbeki in his
address on Friday spoke about our country entering an Age of Hope. This age of
hope equally applies to the African continent and the possibilities that have
been created by greater levels of peace on the continent and by the economic
opportunities arising from collaboration through the African Union (AU) and New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

The mining industry and the resources sector as a whole, remains a key
economic sector in all African economies. Based on the economic history of many
developed countries and indeed the more recent experiences of South Africa,
this sector if managed correctly can and should become the cornerstone of
industrialisation and further development of the countries of our
continent.

Even Africa’s own economic history, dating back centuries shows the
importance of mining to regional and global trade of the day. Sadly, much of
this history has been ignored as it would teach our children about the great
empires and trading nations that existed prior to the colonisation of Africa.
Some of the earliest metallurgy in the world can be found in Africa, with
techniques in smelting that even today could be considered world class. I hope
that archaeologists and historians are successful in being able to capture our
rich past in this sector and provide future generations a strong sense of our
great history.

Ladies and gentlemen, today resources are the number one foreign exchange
earner in most African countries as well as being a very large contributor to
our infrastructure. The resources boom has shown us that this sector has an
even greater contribution to make to our economies going forward. If one for
example takes a product such as copper that was uneconomical to mine a few
short years ago and where we saw disinvestment in several mines; if we now look
at the commodity - which like most other minerals has started to shine and make
those mines extremely lucrative. Clearly we must take advantage of the boom and
see how mining and other primary resources can contribute to improving not only
the rest of our economy but also our infrastructure and social development.

There are of course no guarantees on the continuation of the resources boom
and it is therefore important that we, as key mining nations, are strategic in
how we manage this sector and use it strategically - particularly in growing
other parts of the economy. Equally important we need to be continually aware
of the dangers of ‘Dutch Disease’ where we strengthen our currencies by
exporting these now valuable minerals and underdevelop the rest of our economy,
particularly manufacturing and services (which cannot compete with
international competition on the basis of a currency that is too strong). It is
in our ability to diversify our economies and make them robust enough to
withstand the changing fortunes of one sector that will see us being able to
achieve greater levels of development and create a better life for our
people.

We must however be cautious in that while resources can contribute towards
economic growth we must ensure this is done in a responsible and sustainable
way, particularly with regard to safety in our mines and protecting the
environment.

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, we have long recognised that co-operation
between our countries is key to us being able to achieve our growth and
development objectives. There is a great deal that we can learn from each other
and our collective voice and collective economies have the potential to become
a very powerful force. With the African Union (AU) and New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as our overarching framework we are seeing greater
levels of regional co-operation and integration which allows us to increase
levels of intra-Africa trade and investment.

As a newcomer to the mining sector and former Deputy Minister of Trade and
Industry, I am excited to have found in place a strong foundation for
co-operation amongst African countries in the mining industry and structures
for promoting NEPAD.

I am informed the idea of the AMP was first mooted during the African Mining
Ministers Forum meeting in 2003. At that meeting ministers approved projects
that they thought were suitable for fulfilling this mandate. Concept papers
were presented and from those project proposals were drawn up. These projects
go to the heart of what we can achieve through co-operation in the mining
industry – such as in small scale mining, in beneficiation, as well as in the
upstream and downstream sectors that form part of the resources sector.

While I am disappointed to hear that after three years some of the projects
have not achieved their targets, I am still very optimistic about AMP as I see
enormous potential in our continued co-operation. I hope through the necessary
evaluations that must be conducted, we are able to identify the weaknesses and
find areas for improvements. I call on my colleagues to ‘crack the whip’ so
that we achieve greater progress; from my side I will be looking at our own
projects.

To conclude, this year South Africa commemorates the Bambata Rebellion that
took place 100 years ago; 50 years ago in 1956 we had our historic women’s
march on the South African Union Buildings in Pretoria and in 1976 – 30 years
ago, South Africa’s again took to the streets to protest against apartheid and
the racist laws that repressed us and took away our political, cultural and
economic freedoms. For South Africa in particular, how we manage our resources
sectors and indeed how we manage our whole country and economy, we must show
that the lives lost in the struggle for freedom were not in vain.

Colleagues, besides the funds spent on holding these meetings we have a duty
to make these projects work as they will no doubt have a favourable impact on
our people and our economies. I look forward to our deliberations today and the
presentation from our officials, as I hope they were able to make progress on
the delayed projects during their recent discussions.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Minerals and Energy
6 February 2006