General Counsel Forum

A Legal Indaba

Riding the waves of change | Unleashing value as a modern in-house lawyer

In Partnership with

Mining in Africa requires companies to understand and navigate complex legal risks and multi-layered legal regimes. From local community rights to global compliance obligations, in-house legal teams and their stakeholders need to keep up with a constantly evolving legal landscape to capitalise on resource opportunities.

Back in 2022, the General Counsel Forum discussed the key regional and global legal trends facing mining lawyers working in Africa. A Legal Indaba provided a platform for the mining lawyer community to connect and discuss the growing expectations placed on the mining GC by the board and investors in response to regional trends and global policy reforms.

*Open solely to in-house employees of mining companies

Topics included:

Opening keynote delivered by Rohitesh Dhawan, President & CEO, ICMM - a deep-dive into Addressing the 'Trust Deficit' which has been identified as the single biggest risk continuing to face the mining industry.
A practical and insightful panel discussion looking at 'Riding the Waves of Change' as a modern mining in-house lawyer. Answering questions on how the profession can, and has, continued to pivot and develop throughout the last turbulent 24 months.
Bringing together both the legal and HR functions, 'An Opportunity for Creativity; Facing Novel Employment Challenges' takes a look at the dramatic changes to employment and labour policy and advice in light of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Led by Andrew Irvine, General Counsel, EITI, we hosted both corporate and legal advisers and their governmental counterparts via our 'Working Together to Improve Governance in the Long-Term'. Shining a light on how honest collaboration and a longer-term mindset can deliver both exceptional corporate value and long-term goodwill and positive relationships in corporate counsels' interactions with host governments.
Recent high-profile exposure of corporate culture nightmares have shone a light on how an approach to societal, cultural, and governance issues with a majority external mindset and focus can become unstuck extremely quickly. 'Turning ESG Inwards' considers the role of in-house counsel in ensuring that limited resources are instead mustered to ensure that a company's internal culture, governance, and brand are best progressed, protected, and enhanced whilst balancing the increasing ESG demands being driven by external stakeholders.