Mining experts will be converging in Rwanda later this year to deliberate investment and growth opportunities in the continent’s mining sector, in the wake of increased focus on Africa by multinationals.
The Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) will be hosting the new East and Central Africa Mining Forum conference and exhibition that will be held in Kigali from October 28-29, an event the country intends to also use to open the country for investment.
“We are opening up our mining sector in a way that has not been done in the past” says Francis Gatare, CEO of the RMB, “providing as much geological information as possible and we have recently revised our regulatory framework from policy to mining code and regulation – to not only make it competitive for companies to operate in but to also provide a platform that will make it easy for companies to comply with regulatory requirements.”
The two-day event will focus on the opportunities in the regional mining industry, providing access to best practices, gaining insights into reliable, cost effective technologies and fast-tracking financial support.
Industry participation will include junior mining operators and exploration companies, stakeholders from the mining equipment, technology and service (METS) sector, transport and logistics firms to help cross-border cooperation and financiers, who will help provide the right financial model and tools for projects of any scale.
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The RMB will deliver the welcome address during the opening session, which will also include keynote addresses from the mining ministers of Ethiopia and South Sudan.
“Geology tends to be regional” he explains, “there is no single country that has a monopoly on its own geological endowments; they tend to be regional and similar in many regards. This makes it important to share geological information across the region. It’s also very important for the country to share experiences and in turn start to see mineral resources as regional projects, especially when you begin to think about processing on a competitive level that would bring in economic returns.”
The East and Central Africa Mining Forum is organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the infrastructure, energy and mining sectors.
Other well-known events by Spintelligent include DRC Mining Week, Nigeria Mining Week, African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa, Future Energy East Africa and Future Energy Nigeria.
Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group.It will feature topics such as “exploring synergies and building collaboration with the ‘Global Capital of Cobalt”.
“The industry is excited about this new regional mining forum with Ivanhoe Mines confirmed as participating mining operator and BARRON and LuNa Smelter confirmed as gold sponsors. CMD Gears-Ferry Capitain, Minelab and Spectrometer Technology are bronze sponsors,” RBM said in a statement.
