Showcasing investment opportunities in Africa
Africa could benefit from presenting solutions to, and strategies for, the continent’s infrastructure challenges, along with showcasing its investment opportunities, at the 2011 Mining Indaba, says consulting engineering firm SRK Consulting chairperson Roger Dixon.
“Many investment opportunities may be lost owing to African countries’ lack of future strategies to remedy poor infrastructure, such as roads, railways, power supply, water and security,” says Dixon.
Infrastructure improvement should be a focus for individual countries, he adds.
“Many African governments invite potential investors to the country to assess prospective mining possibilities or current mining projects, but no con- crete suggestions are made on what the country is doing to make investors more confident that an investment would be sustainable in Africa. Strategies and solutions to any issue should be pre- sented,” he says.
To drive the benefits from the Mining Indaba 2011, Dixon believes that the South African government should become more involved in the Mining Indaba.
“The South African government presents a yearly keynote address; however, it doesn’t seem to involve itself in the event beyond that,” he believes.
Dixon feels that government should participate in the many forums and sessions to be held at the Indaba and create a positive presence for the country at the indaba.
South Africa is not participating in the Mining Ministers’ forum this year, which will have representation from Angola, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Cameroon, Namibia and Zambia, besides others, he says.
Dixon is hoping that the Minister of Mineral Resources will deliver a positive speech about investing in South Africa, and that she will comment on issues that affect South Africa as a mining investment destination, such as security of tenure, infrastructure and the process for issuing prospecting and mining rights.
“I would like to see discussions on the certainty of electrical power supply and the tariffs that are going to be applied, as this is what the market will also be examining,” he says.
International mining companies and related industries will be looking out for these issues at the indaba, and this presents an opportunity for Africa to showcase itself.
Dixon does feel, however, that the Mining Indaba 2011 will have a different perspective to that of previous events, because, for the first time, the event will include presentations from non-African governments, such as Japan, the UK, Australia, Canada, India and China.
“The 2011 Indaba will also include a forum and session in which the Inter- national Council on Mining and Minerals will promote sustainable development, which is an important aspect for mining companies,” Dixon says.
He adds that SRK will be looking forward to the commodities review and outlook, which will give attendees a view of the main commodities and markets going forward, and enable companies and investors to plan future strategies based on the outcomes of these presentations.
SRK Consulting will have a stand at the indaba, where its international employees will interact with attendees and which will provide networking opportunities for new business developments and relationship building with clients.
This article was originally posted on Sustainable Development Africa Platform
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