The African Union Commission (AUC) launched the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) Compact with Private Sector Leaders and Government Officials during a High Level Dinner Dialogue, on Tuesday, 9 February 2016, at the Mining Indaba, Westin Hotel Ballroom in Cape Town, South Africa.

The objective of the Compact is to have a frank dialogue amongst private sector leaders and senior government officials about the mechanisms for mutual implementations / institutionalization of the Africa Mining Vision which is a crucial instrument for achieving the Agenda 2063.

The event led off with a 45-minute cocktail reception followed by a sit-down, plated dinner with AUC-AMDC as the host for the evening. The AMV Compact is to promote wide understanding among stakeholders on the added value that the African Mining Vision provides, and the event with senior public and private officials focused on the AMV’s shared benefits, value creation and addition of minerals for Africa’s Industrialization and structural transformation.

In her keynote speech, read on her behalf by Mr. Frank Mugyenyi, Senior Industry Advisor, H.E. Mrs. Fatima Haram Acyl, the Commissioner for Trade and Industry, called for an Africa Mining Vision (AMV) compact with the private sector, reflecting robust collaborative partnerships and continuous dialogue to propel the shared benefits of the AMV.

“To ensure successful implementation of the AMV, an explicit agreement between African Union (AU) member States and private on a set of standards that would serve as a benchmark for companies and governments to assess performance, resulting in robust policies that cover a range of principles,” he pointed out.

The AMV emphasizes the transformative role played by the minerals sector in the national development goals of African countries. The AMV compact targets mining companies including oil and gas, Chambers of Mines and other mining associations, and it is based on principles that can be aligned with corporate core values, policies, strategic plans and mission statements of companies in the extractive sector.

In her opening remarks Dr. Fatima Denton, Director of Special Initiatives at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), emphasized that African Governments are increasingly becoming more assertive in developing long term visions for mineral resources to increase local content; move up the value chain; and increase inter-sectoral linkages between minerals and non-mineral sectors.

“This falls squarely within the Framework of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the African Mining Vision whose overall vision in general terms is towards harnessing Africa’s natural resources for broad based development,” she mentioned.

Before concluding, the Director stressed that the African Union Commission in partnership with its AMV implementing Partners who include the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), The African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and through the AU technical institution the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), are fully committed to ensure that this Compact becomes a major tool for effective Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with a view to formulating a shared vision on how the mineral resources exploitation can promote broad-based development and structural transformation of Africa.

The African Union Commission and the African Minerals Development Centre had a joint booth at the Mining Indaba to showcase the activities on the implementation of the Africa mining Vision and its Action Plan as directed by the African Union Heads of State and Government which are also in line with the Agenda 2063 10 Year Work Plan. It should be noted that the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), which is currently an AU project hosted by UNECA, has recently [been] adopted by the January 2016 Summit as a “Specialised Agency” of the African Union to coordinate the implementation of the Africa Mining Vision.