Africa Ministers of Mines meet in Accra

Accra, Aug. 12, GNA - Member countries of the African Mining Partnership (AMP) on Tuesday began a three-day mid-term review meeting to discuss a proposed African Mining Policy Document aimed at achieving a mutually beneficial order within the continent's mining industry. The three-day meeting, which is being held in Accra, brings together Ministers of Mines and their representatives who have adopted the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).

The AMP was established in 2004 to champion the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) mining and minerals initiatives by harmonising the mining and minerals legislative framework in Africa and optimising the value of mining for the benefit of all.

In an address to open the conference, Mrs Esther Obeng Dappah, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines of Ghana, urged participants to come out of with suggestions that would enable the continent to derive the utmost benefit from its rich mineral resources.

She said while most countries of the world utilized the minerals industry to speed up the rate of industrialization of their economies, Africa on the other hand had evolved largely as a producer for foreign export markets with little or no integration compared to other sectors. With the conviction that the mining sector remained the cornerstone of the continent's future industrialization drive, Mrs Obeng Dappah called for a mining vision which would make the sector more profitable to contribute to sustainable economic development and improve the standard of living of its people.

To achieve this, she said, the continent must provide a framework of cooperation and integration which would spell out areas for harmonization of mining policies for sustainable growth of the sector. Mr Ben Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, said mining had the potential of becoming the solution to the continent's problems. He gave the assurance that proposals worthy of consideration would be arrived at during the review period and put before the mining Ministers for adoption.

The Accra meeting will enable the Ministers to report back on progress that had been made in the areas of AMP specific projects, including small-scale mining environment, sustainable development, human resource development, promotion of foreign investment and indigenous participation in mining ventures.