The Australian government is sup-porting its significant and rapidly expanding investments in the African mining industry by ramping up its political and diplomatic engagement with the continent, says Australian High Commissioner to South Africa Ann Harrap.

Australian companies have collectively invested more than $20-billion into Africa’s resources sector, with a further $27-billion earmarked as being in the pipeline.

“Currently, over 230 Australian com-panies have invested in more than 660 individual natural resources projects in Africa. About 630 of these projects are mining-related and 139 projects are based in South Africa,” she says.

Australia believes that enhancing its business activities with Africa will benefit its economy, as well as advance Australia’s broader aid strategy of assisting Africa in tackling poverty and achieving its Millennium Development Goals.

“Australia’s mining-related assistance to Africa is focused on improving gover-nance, building resource sustainability, enabling resource development and using public–private partnerships,” says Harrap.

Australia’s aid programme has provided mining-related assistance to over 20 African countries since 2007 and, speaking at the Mining Indaba earlier this year, Harrap pointed out that Australia’s development assistance to Africa would likely reach about $500-million by 2015.

Australia has also contributed about $1.45-million to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which encourages governance and transparency excellence in the mining, gas and petro-leum sectors. Five of the 11 countries to have achieved EITI compliance are African.

“Further, Australia is partnering with the International Monetary Fund to provide capacity building and technical assistance in areas such as tax policy, revenue administration, macroeconomic policy, asset and liability management and resource standards. More than 40 countries will benefit from the partnership,” says Harrap.

Skills Development
This year, Australia is providing opportunities for more than 150 African mining professionals to develop their skills and learn from Australia’s mining expertise, says Harrap.

This is through a combination of study tours, short-term scholarships and fellowships, also called Australia Awards. The country is inviting applications for masters-level scholarships during 2011 from candidates from 40 African countries.

By 2013, Australia will have provided up to 1 000 scholarships a year to African students.

One of the countries that has benefited from Australia’s fellowship programme is Sierra Leone.

In 2010, two officials from the Ministry of Mineral Resources, in Sierra Leone, undertook a fellowship at the University of Sydney on the regulation and management of the sector, with exposure to both govern-ment and industry in Western Australia.

The fellowship also enabled the officials to compare Australia’s approach to policy development and regulatory frameworks with those of Sierra Leone. Specific training in monitoring exploration and mining licence conditions was also provided.

Opportunities
Africa is an attractive mining destination for Australian mineral and resources companies, particularly junior miners not averse to risk.

The most significant growth was seen in West Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso, with an increased presence from Australian mining companies undertaking gold exploration projects. These projects account for about one-third of new projects that started in 2009 and 2010.

“Many Australian mining companies, including mining groups such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Paladin Energy, First Qantum and Adamus, have either expanded or intend to expand operations in Africa in the near future,” she says.

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