For the third year running, the UK-based International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) will host two sustainable development sessions at the Investing in African Mining Indaba.

On Tuesday, February 5, asset firms will participate in the panel discussion on ‘Sustain- ability and Investors: A Critical Relationship’, dealing with how environmental, social and governance factors link to a company’s long-term profitability.

Firms on the panel include Old Mutual Investment Group, Cadiz Asset Management, Investec Asset Management and Kagiso Asset Management.

The sustainable development session will take place on February 7, where gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani will open proceedings with a keynote address entitled ‘Mining’s contribution to sustainable development’.

The ICMM will then present an interactive panel on the contribution of the mining industry to economic development.

Speakers will include South African Chamber of Mines chief economist Roger Baxter, Inter- national Monetary Fund fiscal affairs department adviser Philip Daniel, Ghana Chamber of Mines former head Dr Joyce Ayree and mining company Vale global head of public affairs Rafael Benke.

The second panel discussion, ‘Revenue Trans- parency and Anticorruption: A Global Chal- lenge’, will bring together representatives of gov- ernment, civil society and industry to examine the increasing need for transparency in the industry as evidenced in the recent legislation changes in the US and the European Union.

The second and final panel will be made up of former Liberian Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy and member of the board of the global civil society organisation the Extractive Indus- tries Transparency Initiative Roosevelt Jayjay, chairperson of mining company BHP Billiton South Africa Xolani Mkhwanazi and the Africa coordinator of nonprofit policy institute and grant-making organisation Revenue Watch Institute Emmanuel Kuyole.

ICMM deputy president and senior programme director Aidan Davy says the ICMM has strengthened the selection process for panel topics and speakers for the 2013 edition of Mining Indaba.

“A multistakeholder committee convened by the ICMM reviewed a long list of possible topics identified from our research and voted on which ones – from transparency to biodiversity and worker safety – would be best suited to the event.

“While we recognise that all topics on the table are important in the African context, the panel ultimately chose three issues to be covered during the sustainable development sessions: the relationship between sustain- ability and long-term profits from an investor’s perspective, the contribution of the mining industry to economic development and the global challenges of revenue transparency and anticorruption,” he says.

He adds that the panel discussions are designed to be responsive to participants’ concerns, and to provide opportunities for them to engage in discussion with expert panellists.

“The challenges that will be discussed do not have a single solution; there are no clear-cut answers. Our efforts are aimed at providing participants with a forum to critically reflect on the progress made in the sustainable develop- ment sector, and on the challenges that still lie ahead for South Africa, for the region and for the industry on a global level,” states Davy.

He says the ICMM hopes the event will contribute towards its vision of leading companies to work together and with others to strengthen the contribution of mining, minerals and metals to sustainable development.

“We hope to make this vision a reality by bringing together thought leaders and representatives of government, industry and civil society organisations,” he explains.

Davy says, every year the Mining Indaba gives the ICMM the opportunity to meet with partners, members and collaborators from around the world.

“We are keen to hear what investors have to say on the relationship between the sustainabil- ity issues we work on and long-term industry profitability,” he adds.

Davy notes that the ICMM believes a collaborative approach is needed to deal with the challenges facing mining in Africa.

“Our work focuses on the sustainable development issues the industry faces on a global level, yet many of these challenges are equally applicable to Africa. The main issues include economic benefits and development, revenue transparency and corruption, water, respecting human rights, worker safety, community health and biodiversity, among others.

“Years of research at the ICMM, in collaboration with institutions like the World Bank, have proven that governance needs to be strengthened and that no single development actor – such as States, development institutions, private companies or civil society organisations – can do it alone.

“Events in South Africa within the past year have reminded us that the industry can be faced with extremely challenging situations caused by multiple complex factors. Solutions are never simple nor within reach of any single development actor: collaboration is key,” says Davy.