| Overview : The African Mining Vision (AMV) was adopted by African Heads of State and Government in February 2009. It represents a response by African Ministers to the paradox of living in a continent with huge natural resources that exist alongside pervasive poverty and disparities. It is innovative in that it goes beyond making improvements to mining regimes in countries, to establishing how mining can better and genuinely contribute to local, national and regional development. Locally, it considers how workers and communities can derive sustainable benefits from mining, while also protecting their environment. The AMV proposes a paradigm shift away from a model of extractive resource exploitation based on a high dependency on international export markets that has proven unable to bring socio-economic development to Africa. In doing so, it addresses the longstanding paradox of a continent endowed with abundant natural resources, but still faced with high levels of poverty and disparity among African populations.
Accordingly, the main objective of the AMV has been to shift from the current and dominant “resource-for-development” model, to one that could bring about a structural transformation of African economies by using mineral resources to catalyse broad-based and inclusive growth and development of Africa’s resource markets, and foster economic diversification and industrialization throughout the continent. Through targeted policy reforms, the AMV seeks to address the structural flaws characterized by the mono sectoral nature of mining activities and weakened institutional capacity.
To implement the Vision, the AU Heads of State in 2012, approved the establishment of the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) to provide strategic operational and coordination support to AU Member States. The Instruction from the Ministers was that the AMDC should be established as an operational centre by the end of 2013. AMDC was formally launched on the margins of the Third AU Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development in Maputo, Mozambique.
On the institutionalisation and sustainability of the AMDC, it was agreed among other things that the next bureau meeting should consider a report from the AUC in order to decide on the hosting arrangements for the AMDC, funding mechanism and the AUC should commission a comprehensive study on alternative scenarios for the final form of the AMDC for consideration and adoption by the 4th AU Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources.
Further, the Executive Council which met in Malabo in June 2014 took note of the on-going continental efforts towards establishing the African Minerals Development Centre )AMDC_ as an implementing arm of the African Mining Vision (AMV) and REDIRECTED the AUC to expedite the process of institutionalising the AMDC as a permanent structure.
In response to the above, the First Bureau Meeting of the Third Ordinary Session of the Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development met at Ministerial level on 13 August 2014 at the Epic Sana Hotel in Luanda, Angola. The objective of the meeting was to review progress on the institutionalization of the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) and prepare for the first extraordinary session of the AU Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development. The Bureau Meeting, having considered the Reports submitted by the AUC, made the following recommendations:
• On the Report of AMDC institutionalization and Sustainability Framework, the following emerged;
That AMDC be established as a specialized agency of the African union with a degree of flexibility and autonomy but without AU Member States losing ownership;
In this regard, the provisions of the draft Statute should be aligned with this option;
AUC was further requested to undertake an analysis on different financing mechanisms with appropriate details to enable decision-making by the Extraordinary Session of Ministers.
• On the collaboration between AUC and Southern and Eastern African Minerals Centre (SEAMIC) and the proposal on future areas of cooperation between the SEAMIC and AMDC, the following emerged;
A comprehensive study of all the existing regional centres of excellence involved in mineral resources be conducted by AUC and submitted to the extraordinary session in Zambia/Zimbabwe,
The need for collaboration between the AMDC and the existing regional centres of excellence should be reflected in the draft statute of AMDC. |
