We sat down with Tony Carroll, International Advisor to Mining Indaba to discuss Mining Indaba 2023 and the opportunities and challenges that the mining industry are currently facing. With over 35 years as a corporate lawyer & business advisor in the areas of international trade and investment, Tony is keenly focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Currently working to transfer new technology and methodology to the region, his passion for Africa, its business and overall development date back to his Peace Corps service in Botswana in the late 1970s.

He has served as a member of multiple boards including the Africa advisory boards at EXIM Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade Representative; and was also a congressional nominee to the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

What are you most looking forward to about Mining Indaba next year?

I always look forward to attending the Mining Indaba. It's the one place where you can meet all segments of the mining industry: governments, service providers, junior’s, majors. It's just the one venue where you can get in contact with everybody you need to be in contact with.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities for the mining industry?

I think it is clear there has been an enormous focus toward the emergence of electric vehicles and the batteries that power them and the minerals that go into the making those batteries are often found in abundance in Africa. So, the integration of the industry from production to processing is becoming more crucial and I think there's a lot more ambition about identifying opportunities and securing opportunities in producing countries in Africa more than there was just a decade ago.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the mining industry currently?

Well I think the mining industry is cyclical by nature I think we have to anticipate that these are commodities that change and fluctuate in price based on demand and other extraneous conditions or circumstances perhaps but within the context of Africa the challenges remain the same. Governance is a big issue, predictability, security these are all measures or matters that influence the attractiveness of the industry and I think are necessary conditions for the industry to get more deeply involved because by nature the mining industry is a long term proposition and having good governance having security of title and being able to operate and secure environments are necessary ingredients to a long term investment.

What do you think Mining Indaba offers the industry?

As I said in the first statement it offers the one platform where everyone's there, but I think what we've seen in the Mining Indaba in the last decade has been a deepening of the offer in terms of content. We found much more thought going into trying to provide forums and venues that are particularly of interest to specific segments within the mining industry whether you're in the processing or technology or social impact we have something for everybody in the industry. 

With the energy transition becoming a bigger topic what role do you think the mining sector has to play in this?

I mean it's got a big role to play in green metals, clearly the platinum group metals which are in large abundance in South Africa and in southern Africa make up a very big component of the green metals and are essential to the production of solutions technologies that are going to facilitate that transition, so they are very big part. Cobalt and copper are also found in abundance in Africa are also a part of that equation so clearly Africa has a very strong if not dominant role in these minerals to play in how we develop and are able to accelerate the development of the green economies.

And finally, what does being on the Mining Indaba Advisory Board mean to you? 

Well of course it's a great responsibility one that I take seriously, and this event has been a part of my life for over a quarter of a century, and I have a special I think relationship with its success and want to continue to build it from strength to strength over the years and broadening the participation of perhaps not nontraditional stakeholders in the event. I think we've done a good job in broadening the inclusiveness of our board and I think that's made our event more relevant.

Mining Indaba is the world's largest mining investment event. Find out who you could be meet by downloading the companies attending list here.