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AFRIcA DoWn UnDeR

A view of Africa

through the

investment lens

auritius Ambassador to Australia HE Marie Monty has called on inves- On the big screen: Senior diplomats Marie Monty (Mauritius), Joe
M tors to have a deeper think about the lands of opportunities across Af- Tapera Mhishi (Zimbabwe) and Marthinus Van Schalkwyk (South
rica. Africa) discussed the investment landscape in southern Africa with
“I wish to invite Australian companies to look at Africa with new eyes, with Paydirt Media’s Jeff Hart
new lenses and project [our] vision of the African continent,” Monty said.
Of her own country, Monty said opportunities for miners in Mauritius
were more corporate-related than resource specific.
“Though we don’t have such mining activities, we do have strong finan- in the past decade.
cial facilities which we offer companies. We have transfer facilities for invest- A target for the mining sector to generate $US12 billion in wealth for Zim-
ments and one thing I’d like to stress is the recent institution of the mining babwe by 2023 has been set.
and energy club which offers a platform for emerging mining industries.” “Since 2009, the sector has been producing $US2 billion; this is just a
Monty added that junior mining companies could access Mauritius’ tenth of the country’s potential,” Zimbabwean Ambassador to Australia HE
banking facilities, while the country’s law, policy and educational services Joe Tapera Mhishi said.
should be tapped into by entities looking for entry into Africa. Mhishi congratulated the companies that had taken the lead and chosen
It is around the areas of mining policy and investment frameworks that to invest in Zimbabwe’s mining industry and encouraged more people to
countries like Zimbabwe are working to make themselves more appealing follow suit.
to foreign investors. “We have so far been adopting policy reforms to answer the needs of
Zimbabwe’s mineral endowment is well-known, however, just 10 of the investors and adopt an investment regime that is the best in the world. But
country’s 60 resources are currently being mined. this is a process and this is why recently this mechanism of consultation
It has been estimated that at full potential Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth every two weeks [has been established] because we don’t want to upset
could be worth $US20 billion p.a., however, the sector has underperformed any investors or an industry that is critical to the economy,” Mhishi said.
Consultation and communication with industry and investors is some-
thing that was lacking in South Africa until recently with the relationship
between industry and government during Mosebenzi Zwane’s spell as
Minister for Mineral Resources fractured to say the least.
Despite the ill-feeling between government and industry when Zwane
was in charge, the SA mining sector appears to have bounced back since
Gwede Mantashe was appointed Minister in 2018.
And with the official unemployment rate in SA nearing 42% (there are
Burkina
Faso suggestions the figure could be as high as 60%), the mateship between
mining sector and government is critical to SA’s future.
“Mining contributes about 9% to GDP in SA, so clearly it is a key com-
ponent [of the economy], with 500,000 jobs being created by the mining
industry in South Africa,” SA High Commissioner to Australia HE Marthinus
West Africa’s Newest Van Schalkwyk said.
“We understand how important it is to nurture this industry encouraging
Unhedged Gold Producer investments and to invite people to invest in mining in SA.”
SA’s mining history is undisputed, however, with operations going deeper
West African Resources (ASX: WAF) and becoming increasingly unsafe to mine, Van Schalkwyk said there were
is the region’s newest unhedged gold a number of exciting initiatives to do with artificial intelligence and remote
producer after pouring first gold at the mining applications to enhance the prospects of safe mining in SA.
Sanbrado Gold Project, Burkina Faso, on “We understand that if we really want to unlock the mineral potential in
18 March 2020. Sanbrado is ramping up our country, we have to look at new developments like artificial intelligence,”
to full production in Q4 2020. Van Schalkwyk said.
“In terms of encouraging investment, our president started an investment
Sanbrado is expected to produce more drive three years ago and a number of Australia mining companies and
than 300,000oz gold over the first non-mining companies invested in SA and they are still on the potential in-
12 months of production at AISC vestor list. From our point of view, we go out of our way to ensure that we
of less than US$600/oz. suit them as best as we can, and we have Invest South Africa; the one stop
facility that assists investors.
West African Resources Ltd ACN 121 539 375 “We are now entering the phase of about 42% unemployment in SA. As
Phone: +61 8 9481 7344 the Government and major companies in the private sector, we understand
info@westafricanresources.com that we must put in an extra effort to ensure people have jobs.”
www.westafricanresources.com – Mark Andrews

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