Monday Highlights

Session sponsored by EPRM

• What worked, what didn’t and want needs to change to ensure the artisanal and small-scale mining sector formalizes and professionalizes across the continent 
• How to pivot from pilot projects and short-lived interventions to sector wide change 
• Zooming in on the Ivorian gold sector and the Congolese cobalt sector, the panel will discuss what impact at scale could look like, if the right investments are made into the sector. 

Unlocking potential: Value addition and industrial transformation in Africa

Session 1: High Level Panel Discussion on the Challenges and Opportunities of Industrializing Africa’s through Minerals 

Session 2: Practical level Discussions on the Challenges and Opportunities of Industrializing Africa’s through Minerals  

• Why this government objective?
• Unpacking enabling conditions for mining companies and international players to foray into local value addition for critical energy transition minerals
• Understanding the perspectives of battery and electric vehicles manufacturers to better understand midstream opportunities and actions needed to unlock those segments
• The role of private sector and state-owned enterprises in implementing the vision of governments to transform domestic mining sectors to deliver greater value addition

• What is the importance of government policies in supporting technological innovation?
• Why is policy not keeping pace with the rate of technological advancement?
• Can collaboration between governments, businesses, and academia to drive technological advancements.

Participate in an open dialogue discussion with industry peers about current trends, challenges, and opportunities. Expect to gain valuable insights into market forecasts, risk management strategies, and the impact of global economic factors on commodity prices.

Mining and Zero harm: Achieving the goal

The main goal of the workshop is to stimulate an open discussion about the challenges the mining industry is facing related to health and safety; how they can maintain a right to operate and attract further investment within this context; how to drive improvement; and how new thinking and new technologies can help to sustainably reduce the number, frequency and severity of accidents in mines across Africa.  

The session will open with a panel discussion that will discuss how mining operations are evolving, how this has augmented risk, as well as the challenges and opportunities that companies have in improving their health and safety systems and practices. This will be followed by roundtable discussions where participants will delve more deeply into specific challenges that miners are facing, with a focus on pragmatic solutions:

•Effectively managing safety during M&A
•Managing and positively influencing contractors, sub-contractors and value chain partners (artisanal & small-scale miners)
•Technology and AI are seen as the silver bullet for improve safety performance, but what actually works and what data and monitoring strategies and frameworks are necessary to introduce new tech/AI effectively
• Engaging and building capabilities of employees; providing a safe working environment for all demographics
•Cultivating the right cultural context for safety