Benitha Tambwe

Expert-Head of Strategic Partnerships

DRC Ministry of Mines (CTCPM)

Benitha Tambwe is a dedicated advocate for responsible mining and gender inclusivity in Africa's mining sector. She is pursuing a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Commodities Trading while serving as the Head of the Partnership Monitoring Service at CTCPM within the Ministry of Mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

One of Benitha's primary objectives is to investigate how mineral-rich countries in Africa, such as the DRC, can utilize the energy transition to improve the quality of life for their citizens over the long term. She aims to ensure that mining production, including artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), remains competitive and compliant in the international market.

In addition to her advocacy efforts, Benitha has joined the sustainability committee for the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2025. Here, she seeks to promote sustainable practices within the mining sector. Through her insights and leadership, Benitha is helping to shape a more sustainable and inclusive future for mining in Africa.
 

Joseph Starwood

Global Mining Expert

Microsoft

Mr. Starwood has deep expertise and experience in digital solutions for the mining industry.  He aligns digital capabilities to client visions and strategies to transform business models and operational processes.  The resulting solutions enhance profitability and productivity, reduce cost and risk, and improve employee safety and engagement.

Mr. Starwood is a thought-leader on the Digital Sustainable Mine of the Future.  Here, he applies a full range of techniques and technologies including digital twins, artificial intelligence, industrial metaverse, edge computing, and more.  Using a holistic approach, he helps clients gain visibility and control across the entire value chain to achieve business and operational objectives while realizing ESG commitments.

Mr. Starwood also has expertise and experience in value realization from digital investments.  He applies his mining industry knowledge to craft a range of solution options to address client budgets, preferences, and constraints.  He utilizes proven methods to accelerate business outcomes and value realization.

Mr. Starwood previously worked as an exploration geologist and geophysicist prospecting for gold, silver, copper, and molybdenum deposits in the Western USA.  He developed significant expertise in Kuroko-style gold deposits.  He also worked as a petroleum exploration geologist and geophysicist in the Middle & Upper Magdalena Basins in Colombia, South America.

Inga Petersen

Executive Director

Global Battery Alliance

Inga Petersen is an experienced sustainability professional with over fifteen years’ expertise in natural resource management, governance and public-private partnerships. She started her career delivering technical assistance projects to enhance the development dividends of the mining sector. She worked directly with governments and donors, designing and managing extractive industries governance projects across Africa and Asia. This allowed her to witness the opportunities and challenges related to natural resource extraction first hand. She subsequently worked with global business leaders and policy makers at the World Economic Forum to lead the mining and metals sector’s transition to a sustainable world. Prior to joining the GBA as Executive Director, Inga acted as Senior Extractives Adviser to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).  

Inga holds a Bachelor from the University of Bath, a Masters in International Relations & International Security from the Institute of Political Science (Sciences Po), Paris and an Executive Master in Global Leadership from the World Economic Forum (WEF). 

Robert Friedland

Founder and Executive Co-Chairman

Ivanhoe Mines

For more than 30 years, Robert M. Friedland has been recognized by the mining industry as an entrepreneurial explorer, technology innovator, thought leader and company builder. He is most notably known for the discovery and development of several of the world’s largest mineral deposits, such as the Voisey’s Bay nickel discovery in Canada and Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold discovery in Mongolia, Platreef in South Africa and Kamoa-Kakula in the DRC. Under his leadership, the Ivanhoe group and associated companies have raised more than US$25 billion on world capital markets since 1993. This capital has been invested in more than 30 nations, directed primarily at mineral resources and disruptive technologies.

Today, Robert is Executive Co-Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, which is expanding the high-grade Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, ramping-up production at the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine and building the tier-one Platreef palladium-platinum-nickel- copper- gold discovery. He is Chairman and co-founder of I-Pulse inc., a private company that is commercializing proprietary, pulsed-power technologies aiming to achieve disruptive outcomes across numerous industries. Mr. Friedland is also Executive Chairman of U.S.-based Ivanhoe Electric, which is using proprietary technology to explore for mineral deposits principally across the USA to support American supply chain independence.

Mr. Friedland’s enterprise and leadership gained prominent, industry recognition in January 2016 when he was inducted into the prestigious Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. In December 2021, he was inducted into the American Mining Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding lifetime achievements advancing the American and global mineral resources industry. On October 9, 2023, the Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh presented Mr. Friedland with the Order of the Polar Star, the country’s highest civilian award to a foreign citizen, for his leadership role in the discovery and development of Oyu Tolgoi, one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world. 

Marna Cloete

President

Ivanhoe Mines

Marna Cloete is a registered Chartered Accountant and holds a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Pretoria.  In 2006, Marna joined Ivanhoe Mines, and in 2009 she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and to President in 2020.

Marna played an instrumental role as part of the Ivanhoe leadership team achieving several strategic milestones, as well as listing the Company on the TSX and concluding multiple strategic partnerships and financings with inter alia a Japanese consortium led by Itochu, Zijin Mining and CITIC Metal.  She also serves on the Board of Centamin plc as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.  

Prior to joining Ivanhoe, Marna forged her career at PwC in 2002, in the Metals and Mining division, subsequently moving on to Group Five Construction.

Dr. Marit Kitaw

Interim Director

African Union- African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC)

Ms. Marit Kitaw, PhD  is the Interim Director of the African Minerals Development Center (AMDC), a Specialized Agency of the African Union, and a panafrican Center dedicated to harnessing Africa’s mineral resources for Africa’s sustainable development and structural transformation through implementing the Africa Mining Vision (AMV). She was previously an Economist at UNECA where she became a strong advocate of developmental and sustainable mining. Marit was also Chief Technical Advisor on Extractives Industries for Sustainable Development at UNDP Mozambique where she actively supported the elaboration of an AMV aligned minerals policy and strategy, the formulation of a local content policy and contributed to the environmental governance of the extractives sector.  As a founding member of the AMDC, she actively contributed to the development of major implementing tools. Dr. Marit previously worked in COMESA, at the African Development Bank, and at the Institute of World Affairs in Washington, DC.  Dr. Marit Kitaw received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Nice/ Sophia-Antipolis in France, and an MBA in Leadership and Sustainability from the University of Cumbria, UK.
 

Julie Courtnage

Executive Director

Mandela Mining Precinct

Julie, a qualified environmental scientist, has devoted 34 years of her career to the minerals sector, including her role as a sustainability practitioner. She has worked in various capacities, ranging from operational mining roles to advocacy with the then Chamber of Mines South Africa. Her last corporate role was as the Sustainable Development Operations Manager for Anglo American plc, and she has actively engaged in regional and international liaison and policy structures, including with the Southern African Development Community and the United Nations.

From 2005 to 2023, Julie thrived as an independent consultant, qualified coach, adult learning facilitator, researcher and a part-time lecturer. Her expertise extends across multiple domains, including integrated risk management, communication, auditing, ethics, governance, project management, group dynamics and leadership and personal development. She has authored 21 popular and academic publications and has also worked with non-profit organisations, the Institute of Directors South Africa (IoDSA), as well as clients in the financial, secondary and tertiary education, government and automotive sectors. Julie is currently the Executive Director of the Mandela Mining Precinct, a public-private-partnership for mining research, development and innovation. Her personal mission is to facilitate the deliberate creation of fundamentally different futures.

Jito Kayumba

Special Assistant to the President

Republic of Zambia 

Mr. Jito Kayumba is an Investment professional, business strategist and former corporate director who has served on the boards of several companies, including Airtel Zambia Plc, Zambian Breweries Plc, Famous Brands Zambia, among others.

He is a Special Assistant to the 7th President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema at State House, on Finance and investment matters. Previously, he served as a partner at Kukula Capital, a venture capital firm in Zambia.

He holds a BA in Political Science from Canada’s Concordia University and an MBA from the ALU School of Business

Dr. Zainab Usman

Director, Africa Program

CEIP

Zainab Usman is the founding director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. Her enduring area of expertise is identifying the policies and institutions to enable low and middle-income economies to harness their natural resources to achieve sustainable economic development. Prior to Carnegie, Usman was at the World Bank as a public sector specialist where she worked on social sustainability, energy policy reforms, natural resources management, and digital technologies. She has worked on these issues in Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Serbia, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan. 

Usman’s research has been published on various academic, policy, and media platforms. She is author of the book Economic Diversification in Nigeria: the Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy, which was selected as one of the Best Books of 2022 on economics by the Financial Times. She is also co-editor of the book, The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All. Usman contributed to the World Bank’s flagship reports on Rethinking Power Sector Reforms in Developing Countries as well as Africa’s Resource Future: Harnessing Natural Resources for Economic Transformation during the Low-Carbon Transition. Usman’s other analytical pieces have been published with the journal of African Affairs, the World Bank’s Policy Research and Working Paper Series, and as book chapters in edited volumes with Oxford University Press and James Currey. Her work has appeared in Al-Jazeera English, BBC, Bloomberg News, the Economist, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Project Syndicate and The Washington Post. Usman obtained her doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford.

Usman obtained her doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford.

Dr. Thuthula Balfour

Head - Health and Safety

Minerals Council South Africa

Dr Balfour is a qualified medical doctor and public health medicine specialist with an MBA and Diploma in Occupational Health. She has a wealth of management experience that spans 36 years, 23 of which have been at a strategic level and 16 in the mining industry.  

In the mining industry she has led several initiatives in the industry with massive improvements in monitoring performance and outcomes in occupational health.  

Dr Balfour has a certificate in Board Leadership from the Gordon Institute of Business Science and am a member of the Institute of Directors of South Africa. She currently serve on the board of Department of Labour’s Compensation Board and Department of Mineral Resource’s Mine Health and Safety Council and also serves on the BUSA Task Team on the National Health Insurance. She served on the South African Health Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 from 2020 till 2023. 

In 2018 she was named as one of the Top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining.

Mfikeyi Makayi

CEO Africa

KoBold Metals

Mfikeyi is a seasoned mining professional with 17 years experience in industry. She worked as a civil & mining engineer at First Quantum’s Kansanshi Copper-Gold mine, as well as global internal audit division covering Australia, Finland, Mauritania and Panama’s operations.

 She was also the Country Manager and Director of one of Zambia’s largest mining and construction equipment supply and services companies, running the Caterpillar dealership in Zambia, Barloworld Equipment Zambia Ltd. Her portfolio covered all large surface and underground copper mines on the Zambian Copperbelt as well as Gemfields’ Kagem mine, the world’s largest emerald mine.

Mfikeyi is a holder of 4 degrees. She has a BSc in Civil Engineering and an M. Eng in Environmental Engineering both from Old Dominion University, United States, an M.Sc. in Mining Engineering from Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, and an Executive MBA from the highly ranked African business school, Lagos Business School at Pan-Atlantic University, in Nigeria.
 

Sean Gilbertson

CEO

Gemfields

Sean Gilbertson graduated as a mining engineer from Wits University in South Africa having spent time in the country’s deep level gold and platinum mines. Mr Gilbertson worked as project financier for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and London specialising in independent power projects and public/private partnerships. In 1998, Mr Gilbertson co-founded globalCOAL, a company that played a central role in the commoditisation of the thermal coal industry, and was appointed chief executive officer in 2001 when the business was acquired by industry players including Anglo American plc, BHP Billiton plc, Glencore International AG and Rio Tinto plc. He was also co-founder of the pioneering Spectron eMetals trading platform for category I and II members of the London Metals Exchange. Mr Gilbertson was a co-founder of the Pallinghurst Group and was primarily responsible for Pallinghurst’s coloured gemstone strategy from 2006 to 2017. After the unbundling of the Pallinghurst Group in 2018, Mr Gilbertson was appointed CEO of Gemfields Group Limited on 31 March 2018 and remains CEO of Gemfields Limited and Kagem Mining Limited, and Chairman of Fabergé Limited, on whose boards he has served for more than a decade.

Mark Robinson

Executive Director

EITI

Mark is the Executive Director of the EITI since 2018, leading the organisation's engagement on extractives transparency and managing the International Secretariat. Mark serves as Board Secretary and is responsible for managing the International Secretariat, fundraising and financial management, and oversight of implementation in EITI’s member countries. 
 
Mark has over 30 years' experience in governance, extractives, climate and international development, and a career spanning the worlds of policy, operations, research and philanthropy. Prior to joining EITI in 2018, Mark served as Global Director for Governance at the World Resources Institute in Washington D.C. He previously held senior positions at the Department for International Development, the Institute of Development Studies, the Ford Foundation, and the Overseas Development Institute. 
 
Mark has held several board and advisory roles and currently serves as an Envoy for the Open Government Partnership. Mark was a founding member of the OGP Board of Directors and the first Board Chair from 2016-2020. He holds a DPhil and MA in Comparative Politics from the University of Sussex, and a BA honours degree in Social and Political Science from the University of Cambridge.  

Dr. Patience Mpofu

CEO, Non-Executive Director

Insight Mining Experts, Orion

Dr. Patience Mpofu is Non-Executive Director of Orion Minerals and CEO of Insight Mining Experts, a boutique ESG advisory and consulting firm. With a dynamic career beginning as a metallurgist and evolving into senior leadership roles in strategy, M&A, and sustainability, Dr. Mpofu's over two decades of expertise spans the entire mining value chain. Her work, advising both mining firms and governments towards sustainable practices, along with her significant contributions to circular business models in mining, marks her as a key figure in transitioning the industry towards a greener future. She has authored, published and presented over 10 international peer-reviewed journals on sustainability in the mining industry. Her research and thought leadership have contributed significantly to the understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the mining industry in the context of sustainability and circularity. Recently, she consulted, advised and moderated a panel discussion on potential copper circular economy business opportunities for the European Union Africa Reform for Investment and Sustainable Economies (RISE) in Zambia. In addition, she competed a project that provided industry baseline analysis of ESG credentials for various critical minerals companies in Australia.

Dr Mpofu has earned numerous awards, including Pan African Most influential women in Mining in South Africa, Southern Africa and Africa. She is a prominent figure in various international conferences and Business Forums with notable speaking engagements as an opening Plenary Speaker at the World Circular Economy Forum in Finland in 2023, Futures Mineral Forum in Saudi Arabia (2023 and 2024), Inaugural Responsible Investment Forum in London (2022), International Mining and Resources Conference in Australia (2022 and 2024) and Mining Investment Business Forums in Zambia and Botswana (2023).

Patience is a member of the Australian Taxonomy Advisory Group on Minerals, Mining and Metals for the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI). She holds a PhD in mineral processing from UNISA Australia, and an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD, France.

Social media and contact details

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpatiencempofu/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/insightminingexperts/

https://www.insightminingexperts.com/

Twitter: @DrPatienceMpofu

Eric Kalala Nsantu

CEO

Enterprise Générale de Cobalt

Eric Kalala has a master’s degree in Management engineering from the Institute of Administration and Management at the Université Catholique de Louvain, in Belgium. He has done a CEMS Master’s in International Management at HEC -Paris in 2004 and by a GMP at Harvard Business School at Harvard University in 2015. He has been became Managing Director of Bolloré Transport & Logitics from 2012 then Chairman to 2023. 

Since June 2023, he has been appointed CEO of the Enterprise Générale du Cobalt in charge of the exploitation of Congolese strategic minerals from artisanal origin. Cobalt, one of the strategic minerals from the Congolese law is an essential commodity to the electric battery industry with 55% of global production concentrated in the country. 
He is also Vice-President of the Chamber of Mines of DRC. He’s also Ambassador of Université Catholique de Louvain in DRC.

Catherine Raw

Chief Development Officer

BHP

Catherine Raw is BHP’s Chief Development Officer, responsible for Group strategy, decision evaluation and capital planning, prioritisation and allocation, corporate business development, mergers and acquisitions and BHP Ventures.  

Catherine is a senior executive with a unique combination of operational, financial and investment experience with qualifications in geoscience and finance.   

Prior to her current role, Catherine worked in the mining, energy and fund management sectors.   

Catherine holds a Master of Arts, Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a Master of Sciences in Mineral Project Appraisal from Imperial College and is a CFA Charterholder.  

Madelein Todd

Marketing Development Executive

Manganese Metal Company (MMC)

Madelein Todd is a Marketing Executive at Manganese Metal Company (MMC) in South Africa. With over 26 years of experience in the manganese industry, including technical, analyst, sales, and marketing roles, she has a deep understanding of the global manganese value chain. 

Madelein specializes in high purity manganese applications for lithium-ion batteries, a market where MMC has been a key supplier for over a decade. Her expertise in product specifications, process options and their corresponding LCA impacts, as well as market dynamics and pricing mechanisms provide valuable insights into this highly opaque industry. 

Known for her positive and collaborative approach, Madelein fosters strong relationships on behalf of manganese and South Africa. 

Aboubacar Koulibaly

Head of Country

Rio Tinto Guinea

Aboubacar Koulibaly is Head of Country for Rio Tinto Guinea.   

Before joining Rio Tinto, Mr Koulibaly worked for more than twenty years in Africa and the United States for leading international organisations and in the public sector in Guinea. His experience includes roles at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for which he oversaw UNDP operations in 46 countries from the Headquarters in New York and also served as Country Director in the Central African Republic and in Mali. Mr. Koulibaly has also held senior positions within the Guinean public sector, including Minister of economic control and financial oversight.   

He holds a master's degree in public administration from France's École nationale d'administration (ENA) and has taken part in executive education programmes at Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and Harvard University.  

David Msiza

DDG, Mine Health & Safety

DPMRE