In his keynote speech during the 35th Meeting of the Governing Council of the Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), Mr. Najib Balala, Minister of Mining of Kenya and Chairman of the Council, opened the forum by stating that mining is the “golden platform” where social and development issues of the region can be addressed.
“Africa is home to more resource–rich countries than any other region of the world. The issues of mining can be conversed with like-minded governments. Whereas we all come from different political states, geology knows not but a political boundary but rather formations which span across political subdivisions.”
Courtesy call on the Kenyan President at the State House. Photo with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, four Ministers from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania, Mr. Ketema, DG of SEAMIC, Mr. Kojo Busia, AMDC Interim Coordinator and Mr. Frank Mugyenyi, AUC Senior Advisor on Trade and Industry.
SEAMIC, a regional centre for knowledge and information for mineral development established in 1977 under the guidance of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA),held its Governing Council meeting in Kenya. Representatives from member states, the African Union Commission, and UNECA met and re-affirmed their commitment in their continuous efforts applying the mandate of SEAMIC, which is for the sustainable mineral development of the region. Mr. Balala added, “Minerals and all other forms of resources are finite in nature. Their exploitation must therefore be done in a very sustainable manner and highly cognizant of the future generation and the contemporary needs of our times.”
During the meeting, members of the Governing Council discussed the expansion of membership in view of its mandate to be a continental body, and made a decision in changing the name SEAMIC to African Minerals and Geosciences Centre (AMGC) to be more inclusive. The change of name also has significance for the work of the African Mineral Development Centre (AMDC) which seeks to transform the mineral resources sector in Africa by optimizing the policy space, up-scaling geological exploration activities, improve small-scale mining and to addressing serious governance challenges. Other salient points discussed during the meeting:
- Strengthening the Centre’s outreach training programmes to member states
- Providing more services to the private sector
- Advocating actively for the harmonization of mineral policies, fiscal and legal regimes by African countries
- Strengthening its peer review mechanism as a monitoring framework for the African Mining Vision, Country Mining Vision as well as other governance mechanisms of peer review
The meeting concluded with the member states’ continued commitment in making the Centre an African organization spearheading the sustainable development of the continent’s finite mineral resources.
Helpful Resources:
African Minerals Development Centre
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Issued by:
African Minerals Development Centre | Special Initiatives Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Email: dleoncio@uneca.org
Phone: 251 11 544 3094