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Enhancing the Mining Sector's Contribution to Development
Addis Ababa, 22 May 2008 (ECA) - The second meeting of the new International Study Group on Africa's Mining Regimes (ISG), held at ECA headquarters in Addis Ababa from 19-21 May 2008, ended on Wednesday with a reiteration of commitment to the assignment by all partners as well as agreement on key deliverables of the project.
The ISG which was established following the February 2007 Big Table on Managing Africa's Natural Resources for Growth and Poverty Reduction, has been tasked with conducting a review of Africa's current mining regimes and proposing recommendations on how the transformational potential of the mining sector can be enhanced. It comprises leading African and international academics and practitioners of natural resources law, economics, public policy and management.
One of the main objectives of the second meeting was to take stock of the ISG's progress to date and to agree on the way forward . In that context, the experts reviewed Africa 's position in the current global mining sector environment as well as case studies and mining profiles of selected African countries. They also discussed several of the core challenges that have been highlighted by the ISG's overall research so far and brainstormed on the innovations that could be applied to address them.
Outstanding challenges faced by Africa 's mining sector include the need to implement effective, pro-development tax regimes;
develop infrastructure that is beneficial to the overall economy; apply extractive practices that have the minimum negative impact on the environment; and, adopt approaches that maximize critical upstream and downstream linkages with the national and regional economy.
The International Study Group on Africa 's mining regimes is now investigating several innovations and mechanisms to address these challenges, such as the efficacy of borrowing ideas on taxation policy from the oil and gas sector as well as a range of incentives to encourage the necessary pro-environment policies, and promote long-term infrastructure development and upstream/downstream linkages.
The work of the ISG is set to provide a significant input into the formulation of the African Union's African Mining Vision 2050 . An update of its research will therefore be presented and reviewed at the next meeting of African Ministers of Mining in Addis Ababa in September 2008. The Group's final report, which is due to be published in June 2009, will also serve as an important background document for the Investment Conference on Infrastructure and Natural Resources in Africa in November 2009.
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