The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), which represents the government’s trade, investment and education promotion arm, will soon announce the name of the senior government official who will represent Australia at the 2015 Investing in African Mining Indaba.

Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett delivered last year’s keynote address on the main stage of the Mining Indaba conference – a speech that was “extremely well received”, says Austrade Africa Senior Trade Commissioner John Madew.

Barnett also spoke at the Australian government-hosted Ministers and ambassadors luncheon, which ran concurrently with the indaba.

Western Australia-Africa Collaboration
Many Western Australian companies with established businesses in South Africa are also turning their attention to opportunities in the African mining industry, Mining Weekly reported early last year.

Barnett told Mining Weekly that, according to Western Australian state figures, 197 Western Australian mining companies were operating 880 projects in 30 African countries as at August 2013.

“More than 150 of those companies are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange,” he noted.

Barnett further pointed out that Western Australian companies were active across the gold, diamond and iron-ore industries in several African countries, including Ghana, South Africa, Liberia and Tanzania.

“Western Australian mining equipment, technology and service providers also have several thousand employees across Africa,” he highlighted.

Barnett added that Africa presented various opportunities for Western Australian businesses but noted that Africa would also stand to benefit from Western Australian companies’ experience in developing “what is now a mature and well-developed mining industry”.

“Western Australia faces many of the same issues as those companies operating in Africa, such as complex negotiations with mining companies. However, Western Australia’s long history in mining has enabled us to establish transparent rules and regulations to ensure the sustainable development of what has become a modern and sophisticated industry,” he stated.

Moreover, Barnett noted that the Western Australian government had also developed individually tailored legislation for all its major mining projects.

“Western Australia would, therefore, like to assist African countries in their endeavours by offering them the benefit of our experience, world-class education and training programmes, technologies and specialised services,” he said.

Event Activities
Madew points out that, at last year’s indaba, more than 60 Australian companies participated in the Australia Lounge programme, which is an exclusive networking lounge and meeting space managed by Africa-based Austrade staff.

He assures Mining Weekly that the Australia Lounge will be even better this year, with a new day sponsor – Australian national industry skills council for the resources and infrastructure sectors SkillsDMC – coming on board.

Madew says the ‘Networking at 4’ event, which forms part of the Australia Lounge programme, has become a “hot ticket” at the indaba, with more than 250 guests having attended each event last year.

This year’s event will take place at 16:00 in the Australia Lounge on February 10 and 11 and includes an informal meeting with Australian companies and government officials. The guests that are invited to this event are also able to experience some “Australian hospitality”.

In addition to these events, the Australian government hosts the official Ministers’ Lounge at Mining Indaba, with sponsorship provided by diversified miner BHP Billiton.

“This access-controlled space is specifically designated for use by African Ministers and their advisers for meetings and as a break-out area, separate from the general conference and trade promotion areas,” explains Madew.

He highlights that the Australian government has been a major supporter of the Mining Indaba conference since 2003.