MINING FOCUS

Sahel and West Africa Mining Conference and Exhibition

Africa’s largest mining event in Europe

“WE ARE DELIGHTED to welcome you to the first ever Sahel and

West Africa Mining Conference and Exhibition. In a few months, this mustattend event has rapidly developed to become the largest mining event on Africa in Europe… Over the course of the next two days, this showcase of developments in African mining will feature excellent solo presentations and panel discussions by government officials, mining companies and African mining experts. The Sahel and West Africa Mining Conference is unique in Europe as it gathers Ministries of Mining from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, together with African-focused financing institutions, geological research houses, and a multitude of African producers, developers and explorers; while keeping intact this

intimate atmosphere that guarantees high quality business discussions.”

These were the introductory words of Hussein Allawi and Jawad Allawi, the CEO and Head of Investor Relations of Frontier Exchange, the hosts of this year’s Sahel and West Africa Mining Conference and Exhibition, which took place at One Whitehall Place in London, UK on 8-9 May.

While, on the continent, numerous events and expos attract the leading decision makers across enterprise and government to discuss, troubleshoot and even do business in some cases; the location of this particular event shines a light on the globalisation of certain sectors and indeed the growing influence of African economies on the rest of the world. And of course, one of the leading drivers of such economic prevalence in Africa - especially West Africa - is mining.

To this end, the two days of thought-sharing and productive dialogue that took place in early May in London proved to be a resounding success as different regional experts gathered together to pinpoint the challenges, successes, lessons and potential of Sahel and West African mining.

One overriding topic of discussion derived not from an overview of the region as a whole, but from an analysis of the region’s leading protagonist, Nigeria.

Following the oil price crash, Nigeria has made a point of diversifying its economic drivers, with mining one of the key industrial domains turned to as a consequence. Naturally, the country has already attracted a lot of foreign direct investment, and thanks to outstanding growth in minerals, and an easing of the licence issuance process, the country can look forward to a positive trajectory ahead.

Issues surrounding challenges and opportunities, technology’s influence, sustainability, and finance formed the crux of much that was talked about over the 48 hours, but perhaps the most fascinating thread was facilitated by having an African-centric event taking place in Europe.

This revolved not around internal views on successes and challenges, but around the rest of the world’s perception of West African mining’s successes and challenges. A very strong and honest panel discussion gave new perspective on where the region really is in comparison to other parts of the world, lending to an extent of knowledge sharing that is difficult to achieve from African-hosted expos.

‘Following the oil price crash, Nigeria has made a point of diversifying its economic drivers, with mining one of the key industrial domains turned to as a consequence’