Following the executive committee meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 1 October 2009, the seventh African Mining Partnership plenary meeting attended by Ministers from, Burundi, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, The Gambia, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe and the African Union Commission (AU), was held in Cape Town on 8 February 2010.
Officials and representatives from Angola, Congo Republic, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Association of African Diamond Producing Countries (ADPA), Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) members from the mining industry and the Inter-religious Committee of Southern Africa also attended.
Member states reiterated their continued commitment to pursue ways that will facilitate the implementation of adopted projects. They also reaffirmed their commitment in continuing to pursue ways in which the mining and minerals industry can significantly contribute to poverty reduction. The meeting reviewed the progress made thus far on the projects.
In accordance with the African Union summit of heads of states of January 2009, the assembly agreed that the AMP be merged with the African Union conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Development and Management (CAMRMRD), which shall henceforth be the ONLY African Union’s Ministerial organ responsible for mineral resources development and management.
The plenary meeting endorsed a decision taken by the executive committee meeting in Addis Ababa that, the African Union Commission will carry out the secretariat functions of the CAMRMRD. To ensure a smooth transition of the AMP into the CAMRMRD, the Ministers took note of the structure of the Ministerial conference of the African Union as outlined in the document presented by the Department of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, working together with Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa on the institutional framework and modalities for the African Union Ministerial conference and align the AMP projects to the African Mining Vision (AMV).
The meeting acknowledged the remarkable progress made since the inception of AMP in February 2004, which includes, albeit not limited to:
* A beneficiation framework intended to maximise the economic benefit of mineral value addition and to increase Africa’s productive capacity, revenue generation and employment creation from the exploitation of mineral resources within the continent
* A mining policy framework for Africa, which seeks to harmonise Africa’s mining regulatory environment to attract investment and achieve socio-economic development
* An artisan and small scale mining (ASM) financing, marketing as well as safety, health and environment models and frameworks
* A sustainable development charter to provide a collective framework for a “vision” on sustainable development for Africa in the mineral and mining sector
* A human resources development framework to address the skills gap to fully develop the mineral sector in Africa and recommendation for the creation of centres of excellence across the continent.
* Base case studies in respect of marketing, financing as well as safety, health and environment strategies for artisan and small scale mining
* A framework and procedures for the member countries with coastlines to apply for an extension of their exclusive economic zones
* An operational organisation of African geological surveys to serve as a platform for exchange of geo-scientific data intended to promote investment in exploration and mining development
* A collective position (African voice) on the classification of nickel carbonates as a carcinogenic-one substance without scientific base in respect of the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) policy of the European Commission.
The ministers also noted the need to participate in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) process and urged member countries to urgently submit their reports before the meeting of May 2010, emphasising positive contribution of mining to their respective countries.
The Ministers reaffirmed their continuous dialogue with stakeholders, including civil society organisations and the mining industry in the development of mineral and mining policies. Ministers also noted that the second meeting of the CAMRMRD is tentatively scheduled to convene in October 2010 in Malawi.
Ministers expressed their gratitude to the government and the people of the Republic of South Africa for their hospitality and for hosting AMP plenary meetings since 2004 and the following member countries that hosted the mid-term review meetings: Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt and Nigeria.
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Jeremy Michaels
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Issued by: Department of Mineral Resources
8 February 2010
