AMSG Ensuring Foreign Investors Follow formal Routes to Invest in Africa – Mulindwa

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The Chief of Staff at the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) and the Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative, Mr. Patrick Mulindwa has revealed that the group is partnering relevant agencies like United Arab Emirate to ensure that foreign mining investors go through formal procedures to operate in Africa.

The Chief of Staff made the disclosure during an interview with Newsmen after the 4th African Natural Resource and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS) held in Abuja recently.

Mr. Mulindwa stated they are working on addressing and alleviating the concerns that investing in Africa is risky.

He outlined that the priority of the group is to eliminate illegal mining activities on the continent and to ensure that the local mining artisans have access to the global markets with products and pricing.

“We working cleansing the activities of illegal mining activities therefore inculcating genuine mining into the global markets.

“One thing we have as a group is that we are working through our members at a hand carrying gold framework and I know you are aware of the formalization of artisanal mining. It is actually getting them into cooperatives which Nigeria and other countries are doing but above all we wanted them to have access to the global markets.

” The global markets for gold is Dubai and other countries that offtake these products from them so the hand carrying framework we are working on is in partnership with the United Arab Emirate (UAE)and we will like to have formal routes of gold trade into Dubai. Formal routes means that an artisanal miner staying in Nasarawa, Nigeria or anywhere in Africa but can get the prices of gold as it is on the global markets and that is not easy if you’re not working in formalizing these procedure.

“You have heard of some investors who lose money trying to trade in Africa it’s because they’re not formalized. So one of the discussions at this year AFNIS is the formalization of artisans mining that will help them as group to access better market.

According to him the mining sector might not necessarily employ everybody directly but it has the capacity to bring inflow of industrialization and factories.

“We are discussing around empowering young people with industrial skills but also thinking of the evidence from the industries that will come out from there. For instance, with lithium in Nigeria we are likely to get a battery manufacturing factory.

“What you need is to prepare young people with skills that can help them work effectively in a battery manufacturing factory. We want to approach skilling through an initiative called “The TVET 4 Africa Youth, Skills & Industry initiative” which looks at providing a layer of apprenticeship within the existing vacational skills system for certain number of period.

While assessing the journey of AMSG he stressed that a lot of actionable discussions have been on for smooth implementation.

” Yesterday, we visited a lithium plant in Nasarawa state and I want to think that that is an action that came out of a conversation that was held here at AfNIS last year.

Mr. Mulindwa commended the media for their reportage while appealing to various governments to do more of advocacy and sensitization campaigns to draw more investment into the mining sector.

He said ” today Nigeria has the biggest lithium plant in Africa but how many people are aware of it. These will provide jobs opportunities and there are different kinds of batteries including vehicles, cameras, handsets among others.”

Speaking on hitches affecting the mining sector he stressed that accessing capital to grow new industry has become a setback therefore all hands must be on deck to chart a course in the future.