African Mining Vision (AMV) was adopted by African Union (AU) Heads of state in 2009 after they realised that the national policies failed to realise the goal of creating regional value chains and an economically integrated Africa. The objectives of the AMV was to usher in structural transformation and industrialisation to drive economic growth. However, one major lapse of the decade-old AMV was the exclusion of the private sector from playing a central role in shaping the AMV. The African Forum Mining that met in Accra, Ghana reviewed the Progress of AMV and lamented that the CEO’s were not aware of AMV earlier and hoped that their active involvement, will bring a random shift.
The AU set up the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) in 2013, to drive the agenda of AMV and support countries to adopt changing technologies and develop linkages between mining and other sectors of the economy. It also guided the countries to reform their fiscal and tax regimes and improve governance. The AMDC developed a mining guide for countries to assist them in domesticating the AMV and aligning it with other countries.In spite of these initiatives, just 34 of its 54 member countries have “attempted some level domestication of AMV’’, reported AU . The AU plans to revamp the AMV as part of its strategy to drive the African Continental Free Trade (AFCTA) and also to facilitate technological changes in mining
Paul Msoma, Economic Affairs Officer, at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said at the opening ceremony that AMV should encourage African countries to recognise the massive benefits to be garnered by mining countries by looking beyond the rents they now get from mining companies, and by setting up linkages, to allow for maximisation of benefits.
The meeting also discussed ways to curb illicit financial flows from the mining industry and how to negotiate contracts with large multinational companies as part of building sustainable resource management frameworks. For example, Democratic Republic of the Congo realised about three percent of the value generated by its mineral exports. The meeting also urged that Africa, home to the world’s largest deposits of precious and industrial metals, needs new mining models to equitably share its mineral wealth while industrialising.
