Corporation committed to helping local mining industry

The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (Jogmec) has re-affirmed its commitment to transfer technology and know-how in exploration of rare earths in the country.

Jogmec executive director of Metals Strategy and Exploration, Hideyuki Ueda, said this on Friday after holding bilateral talks with President Joyce Banda in Yokohama, Japan.

Banda arrived in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday to attend a three-day Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad) under the theme Hand in Hand with a Dynamic Africa.

The conference, which opens today (Saturday), is a strategic partnership between Africa and Japan launched in 1993 with the aim of providing a consultative forum to discuss development assistance and future of Africa.

Said Ueda: “We are already on the ground in Malawi doing explorations in Mulanje, Thyolo, Lake Chirwa and Mangochi on Rare Earth which has key elements for manufacturing of batteries among other things.”

He said his meeting with the President dwelt on exploration of rare earths in Malawi as mining was one of the government’s priorities.

Minister of Industry and Trade Sosten Gwengwe said the mineral exploration being carried out in Mulanje, Mangochi and Thyolo on the Rare Earth Metal Project has reached an advanced stage and that many Malawians have already started benefitting through employment.

“Malawi’s geologists are also actively involved in the project, thereby enhancing their skills and knowledge, courtesy of the Japanese Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzi Abe, African Union chairperson HaileMariam Dessalegn, who is also Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are expected to deliver keynote addresses during the official opening in Yokohama.

Banda is expected to speak on a thematic session on Driving African Development through Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.