President John Dramani Mahama has urged African countries to strengthen their negotiating capacity in the mining sector to ensure the continent derives greater economic benefits from its vast mineral resources.
He said weak negotiations and the granting of extensive mining concessions to foreign companies have deprived African nations of a substantial share of the wealth generated from their natural resources, leaving many resource-rich communities struggling with poverty.
Speaking at the Mining in Motion Conference on Monday, October 19, President Mahama identified the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) as a critical platform for helping countries on the continent negotiate better mining agreements, exchange geological information and build regional industries around mineral resources.
He called on African Union member states that have yet to ratify the statutes establishing the centre to expedite the process and submit their instruments of ratification to the African Union.
He also stressed the need for adequate funding, technical capacity and clear performance targets to enable the institution to deliver on its objectives.
President Mahama argued that Africa’s continued inability to convert its mineral endowment into widespread prosperity was partly rooted in historical arrangements that favour external interests over the economic advancement of producing countries and their communities.
“Poor negotiations and the award of large mineral concessions to foreign interests leave African nations with just a pittance of the wealth that is extracted from our soils. This results in massive financial outflows from the continent, while African countries and their communities grovel in misery,” he said.
He maintained that a properly resourced AMDC could help African governments secure more favourable terms in mineral agreements and reduce the disproportionate flow of wealth out of the continent.
Through stronger regional value chains, he said, African countries could retain more of the benefits from extraction by expanding local processing, industrial development and economic opportunities linked to their mineral resources.