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Event a platform for ‘blunt debate’

VALUABLE DEBATE With a maximum of 500 delegates, The Joburg Indaba will provide an intimate networking environment where stakeholders can openly air their views and give constructive inputs

DIVERSE INPUT Speakers from government, academia, mining companies and advisory firms will provide a range of viewpoints on topical issues

29th September 2017

By: Robyn Wilkinson

Features Reporter

     

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Mining stakeholders from various sectors – including leaders from society, government, industry and labour – will engage in “blunt debate” about the many challenges currently facing the sector when they congregate at the Joburg Indaba 2017, says event organiser Resources4Africa CEO Paula Munsie.

She notes that unpredictable regulatory environments in mining jurisdictions, an increase in stakeholder expectations, unfavourable country risk profiles – which affect attractiveness for investment – and the modernisation of the industry are some of the key issues facing the African mining sector. She stresses that, with a maximum of 500 delegates, the Joburg Indaba will provide an intimate networking environment where stakeholders can engage in “honest, open and frank interaction, and openly air their views and give constructive inputs”.

Transformation in the mining industry will be a key theme at the event, held at the Inanda Club, in Sandton, Johannesburg, from October 4 to 5, with Resources4Africa challenging speakers to define the characteristics of a transformed industry and discuss actionable plans for its achievement. Munsie notes that many African countries signed up for the Zambezi Protocol for 2030 – a blueprint for advancing African mining developed by Johannesburg-based think tank The Brenthurst Foundation last year – which aims to improve trust between parties as a means to establish key investor requirements that will ensure longer-term investment and improved competitiveness for Africa’s mining sector and, thus, jobs and revenue for mining nations.

The protocol was the result of a dialogue on natural resource policy in Africa, held in Zambia in April 2016 by The Brenthurst Foundation, where former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo highlighted that the mining sector still holds great promise for Africa, given the continent’s comparative advantage in terms of mineral wealth and human capital. However, he noted that this advantage could only be realised through policies that aimed to encourage long-term, generational investment through legislative certainty, the provision of reliable services, including a stable and attractive tax regime, a predictable and transparent legal system, policy cohesion, a reliance on administrative regulation rather than political discretion and honest and competent officials.

“Overall, a new narrative of the value of the industry to Africa is necessary; however, one defined not by conspiracy and mistrust but instead by shared dialogue, dependency and endeavour, and underpinned by a clear belief that government needs investors and vice versa. The Zambezi Protocol offers a path for government, business and other partners to chart a fresh, positive future for mining in Africa.

“If we can all agree on this, we have a starting point,” says Munsie, highlighting that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane will speak on the topic at the Joburg Indaba this year. Inclusive transformation in the mining sector, opportunities for growing the industry in the current political and economic climate, views on improving mining policy, strategies for regaining the trust of investors and the leadership skills required for changing the structure of mining will all be focus areas for other speakers. The programme includes varied input, including speakers from government, academia, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa and major mining companies, as well as economic analysts from advisory firms and financial service providers.

“The Joburg Indaba is the only forum where key issues are debated openly and honestly between all key stakeholders. It is truly an industry event – ‘by the industry for the industry’ – and attendees will be able to walk away with the ‘inside scoop’ on where the industry is headed,” says Munsie.

This year, representatives from both the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance will also be present to give their views on how they see the industry moving forward and contributing to economic growth and transformation. The event will also feature a section called “Lion’s Lair-Reloaded”, a platform for debate between mining companies and funders on how to fund and revive the growth of the industry.

“The need for investment in the mining sector remains a key focus – without investors, we have nothing. The mining industry has to win back the trust of the investment community, but how to do this is the challenge.”

Munsie notes that modernisation is part and parcel of developing a strategy to this end. Technological innovation and advancements in the sector will, thus, also be under discussion, with considerations of how Africa can keep pace with its international peers and ensure the smooth integration of technology while meeting the continent’s employment needs.

A gala dinner, dubbed “The Hall of Fame”, will be hosted the night before the event to acknowledge those in the mining sector that have taken unique and great strides to build a solid platform on which the sector can operate.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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