The President of the General Assembly of the ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM), Mr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, has urged West African leaders to harmonize their regional minerals policies to boost investment in the sector.<\/p>\n
Mr. Addo-Kufuor made this call during the 2nd General Assembly meeting of the Federation at the Palace Hotel, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Wednesday,\u00a0September 27, 2017.<\/p>\n
The meeting, which coincided with the 2nd SAMAO Conference & Exhibition in Ouagadougou, was attended by members of the EFEDCOM\u2019s Executive Council from Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d\u2019Ivoire and Burkina Faso. Mr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor expressed joy at the exemplary progress made by Burkina Faso in the mining sector over the past few years and applauded the efforts of the Government.<\/p>\n
He stated that: \u201ccontinued collaboration between stakeholders in our respective countries and across borders is critical,\u201d adding \u201ca prerequisite for deepening this collaboration is mutual trust. We must harness the resources of the sub-region to ensure that our people benefit immensely from the sector. Anything short of that will be failure on our part.\u201d<\/p>\n
EFEDCOM was established to provide the needed thought leadership to propel sub-regional cooperation and effective minerals policy development with the ECOWAS Commission.<\/p>\n
The mission is to advocate for effective policies to promote sustainable and responsible mining, and to use the resources and capabilities of the Members to serve the needs of its stakeholders within the Communities. Members generally commit to ensure the sustainable development of their countries on the back of mining for future generations.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the meeting, the Special Guest of Honour, Hon. Oumarou Idani, Minister for Mines & Quarries of Burkina Fasso, reiterated the need to build stronger ties among the countries. He stated that Burkina Faso is poised to exploit its minerals to develop the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are willing to develop strong partnerships to achieve our agenda of economic transformation. The extractive industry has always been recognized as the engine and catalyst for growth and it would remain so for a very long time. The important thing is to translate that investment into development that benefits our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in attendance was Ghana\u2019s Hon. Barbara Oteng Gyasi, a Deputy Minister for Lands & Natural Resources who together with the President of EFEDCOM, Kwame Addo- Kufuor, participated in a panel discussion on the challenges and development of Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining within the sub-region. Hon Oteng Gyasi stated that the small-scale mining sector had not been regulated properly in the past and this shortfall has stimulated the growth of the illegal mining. She indicated that the government\u2019s temporary ban on activities of small-scale mining in Ghana is to re-assess the challenges and reorganize the subsector through the implementation of the Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP).<\/p>\n
Prior to the meeting, a delegation of the EFEDCOM led by its Executive Director, Mr. Sulemanu Koney earlier paid a courtesy call on the President of Burkina Faso, His Excellency Roch Marc Christian Kabore at his Presidency. The Burkinabe President assured the Federation of his country\u2019s determination to support responsible mining for sustainable development. He encouraged EFEDCOM to work diligently to bring on board all the Chambers in the sub-region to ensure cohesion in the administration of mining within the sub-region.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: Ghana Chamber of Mines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The President of the General Assembly of the ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM), Mr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, has urged West African leaders to harmonize their regional minerals policies to boost investment in the sector. Mr. Addo-Kufuor made this call during the 2nd General Assembly meeting of the Federation at the Palace Hotel, Ouagadougou, Burkina […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n