Malawi wants African unity on mining

Government has said it wants the Africa region to speak with one voice on mining issues so that it leverages the benefits that the continent has.

Minister of Mining Monica Chang’anamuno made the remarks on Wednesday in Cape Town, South Africa during the opening of the Critical Minerals Africa Summit organised by Energy Capital & Power.

According to a statement from organisers, mining ministers from South Sudan and Malawi and representatives from Tanzania and Zimbabwe are united to outline transformative visions for their respective critical mineral sectors and efforts to attract foreign partnerships and cement the continent’s geopolitical position as a global mineral hub.

In an interview yesterday, Chang’anamuno said Malawi was taking the opportunity over demand of critical minerals to expand the supply chain focusing on promoting mineral exploration and processing, generating value-added activities and creating jobs.

She said: “We are trying to learn as much as possible from our colleagues, who have been in the mining industry for a long time.

“We need to have one voice—African countries should start approaching critical minerals as a bloc that can allow us to control the opportunity.”

Director of Energy Minerals in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines & Mining Development of Zimbabwe Leon Godza also emphasised the need for partnerships.

“Partnerships are key in ensuring success in this fairly new sector. Specifically, public-private sector partnerships are able to access financing that’s not normally available to governments and are important in ensuring transparency,” he is quoted in the statement.

According to the statement, the ministers emphasised the urgency in establishing value-added industries to mining activities, with countries including Tanzania, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo having implemented raw mineral export bans to encourage investment in domestic mineral processing capabilities.

Recently, mining experts in the country have said the flocking of major international mining companies to buy shares or merge with others exploring various resources in the country is a positive development, but government needs to move with speed on signing the deals.

In May, government launched a five-year strategic plan (2022-2027) and the National Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Policy.

The strategic plan provides a new operational framework with a clear mission, vision and strategic objectives along with clear performance indicators. It aims to provide strategic direction for the development of the mining sector from 2022 to 2027.