The Investing in African Mining Indaba celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, and the 2019 edition was the best one yet, says mining investment conference Mining Indaba marketing head Joanna Kotyrba.

It cemented and expanded on the successful revamp of the event in 2018, and attracted even more delegates from its key audiences such as governments, major mining companies, junior miners, investors and service providers.

One of the biggest highlights of this year’s conference was the event attendance by two heads of State, Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as 37 Ministers.

Ramaphosa was thankful for the opportunity to address delegates and emphasised the importance of collaboration, while Akufo-Addo also reflected on the need for collaboration to create shared and inclusive value for all stakeholders.

“A noticeable change this year from 2018 was the mood and sentiment which were much more optimistic and upbeat, among all delegates, signalling a positive shift in the mining industry and growing confidence globally in the mining sector, as well as improved commodity prices and a more positive regulatory environment in South Africa,” says Kotyrba.

More than 6 000 delegates attended Mining Indaba 2019, including about 500 government delegates, more than 350 mining companies, 22 junior mining companies participating in the Investment Battlefield and the highest percentage of female speakers and moderators to date.

The Young Leaders Programme, which was opened by Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe highlighted the importance of investing in young talent and helping to close the skills gap.

This year’s programme introduced a new feature, whereby the competition was open to industry professionals under the age of 35 who have led on a major discovery or innovation in the past two years. Projects moving the industry forward in safety, water, exploration, mineral recovery and strategy were considered.

The attendance for this programme was increased by more than 300% in 2018, owing to partnerships with the universities of the Witwatersrand and Cape Town.

Highlights

The 2019 edition of the Mining Indaba marked new networking initiatives. Thousands of meetings took place and millions of dollars’ worth of deals were secured, says Kotyrba.

The event remains the number one deal-making forum for the mining community, with the objective this year being to feature more women on the agenda than ever before to inspire other women and set a good example in the industry.

“Our efforts to bring more female speakers to the event resulted more diverse opinion in panel discussions and presentations, as well as profiling leading women in the sector to enhance their careers and get more press coverage for and about the leading women in the sector,” says Kotyrba.

The Mining Indaba achieved the objective of acting as a catalyst for driving investment into Africa’s mining sector, “illustrated by the more buoyant mood at the event which will have helped drive more investment into the continent”, she adds.

Mining Indaba is working on introducing a couple of new features for 2020, in terms of the content and the technology, Kotyrba concludes.