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Sindiso Ngwenya

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is working with Western Australia to develop a harmonised regional mineral policy focusing on the legal and regulatory framework. This is intended to level the operating environment for mineral resources exploitation.

Speaking during the opening of the African Down Under (ADU) mining conference in Perth, Australia, yesterday Comesa Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said the policy would be guided by the Africa Mining Vision.

He said the policy would lay emphasis on mining for development and socio-economic transformation.

“An important aspect of the harmonised environment would be on optimising the fiscal frameworks through appropriately configured taxation mechanisms,” he said.

“The experience of Australia in using its resource base as a springboard for socio-economic transformation continues to draw African countries to ADU to seek optimal ways to exploit the continent’s vast mineral resources to underpin development.”

ADU is an annual event that brings together African governments led by ministers in charge of mining, business leaders, investors, consultants, financiers and executives from the mining services industries.

Comesa countries are represented by senior government officials including ministers in charge of mining from Ethiopia, Malawi, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe’s Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Fred Moyo.

Comesa member states participation follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Western Australia on collaboration in mineral resources development.

Ngwenya said the primary aim of the MoU was to improve the management of natural resources so that they contribute to sustainable socio-economic growth and development and transformation within the region.

Under the MOU, the Comesa secretariat was working on profiling mineral beneficiation in the region and on developing policy frameworks to cover the important areas of fiscal frameworks, sustainable mining development, corporate social responsibility, institutional strengthening and human skills development.

Ngwenya said the collaboration between Australia and the African continent had seen more Australian mining companies in Africa. For example, he said, mining trade missions were being undertaken by companies such as Armour Energy Limited which in May went to Zambia, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania.

He said Australia was a key player in financing minerals exploration and mine development worldwide.

As a result, Africa looked at ADU as an opportunity to showcase geological potential and the prospectivity for certain minerals in its diverse geology.

Mineral beneficiation was the cornerstone of the Comesa industrial development strategy as well as for the Tripartite Comesa-East African Community-Sadc Industrial Development agenda.