Ghana to host workshop on Mining Regimes in Africa

Accra, Nov. 22, GNA - Ghana is to host a three-day workshop on mining regimes in Africa from November 25-27 as part of a consultative process to come up with a review report on the various mining regimes. It is being organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in collaboration with the Department of Industry and Mines of the ECOWAS Commission, Third World Network-Africa and the NEPAD and Regional Integration Division at the Economic Commission for Africa. The workshop is taking place at a time when mineral endowed African countries seem not to be getting much from their mineral resources due to inimical mining regimes that tend to favour multinational mining corporations.

Some 60 participants made up of officials from the African Union, African Development Bank, Mano River Union, ECOWAS Commission, senior government officials, private sector and non-governmental organisations, among others will attend the meeting.

At a press briefing ahead of the meeting, Dr Yao Graham, Coordinator of the TWN-Africa said the workshop was part of a continent wide consultative process by the International Study Group to obtain input of peculiar national experiences into the final report on review of Africa mining regimes.

He said the workshop would enhance appreciation of the importance of creating regulatory and fiscal mining regimes in Africa which had an improved focus on sustainable development, good governance and management of revenues in the mineral sector.

Issues to be examined include Africa's Mining Vision, the framework Report on Africa's Mining Regimes, the ECOWAS Mining Directive, Corporate Social Responsibility, human rights and artisanal and small scale mining. Also on the agenda will be the African Legal Support Facility, an African Development Bank establishment, that seeks to offer the overall framework for assisting African countries in natural resources development. Dr Graham expressed the hope that the final document would come out with an Africa-wide mining policy regime to help the continent maximize returns from its minerals as against the current situation where multinational companies made more gains at the expense of the mineral endowed African countries. 22 Nov. 09