KEY CONCLUSIONS
The importance of the African resource potential is growing
«The competition for some of the very scarce resources today reveal that Africa is becoming very attractive and competitive in certain markets. Without a doubt, the point of our relations today is to develop the potential that already exists and create wriggle room for the future,» Dmitry Kobylkin, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.
«Africa is rich in resources and leads in a number of minerals, such as
bauxites, gold, phosphorites, and diamonds,» Sergey Gorkov, General Director,
Chairman of the Management Board, Rosgeologia.
«We have to understand the integral role the natural resources play in the development of the world in general. There is not a natural resource that would not contribute to the comfort of our lives,» Francis Gatare, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board.
Russia is a reliable partner for Africa
«Over the past three decades relationship between Russia and our country has been very pleasant, and we would like to thank President Vladimir Putin for maintaining this relationship,» David Francis, Chief Minister of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
«During the past 2 years we have invested USD 9 million that went towards building roads, developing water supply infrastructure, building canteens and schools in rural areas, furnishing computer classes, handing out university scholarships for the talented youth, and more,» Viktor Radko, Chief Executive Officer, United Manganese of Kalahari.
Africa improves its investment attractivity
PROBLEMS
Lack of adequate social effect from resource profits
«We understand there are tensions in many countries of our region because the people that live in the oil and mining fields do not feel they get any share of the industry’s profits. That is why it is paramount to build social infrastructure, like schools and other socially important elements,» Aziz Rabbah, Minister of Energy, Mines and Environment of the Kingdom of Morocco.
«The businesses should contribute to the development of those communities in direct proximity to the fields. Currently, there are difficulties between population that lives by the field and the companies that develops the field,» H.E. Adil Ali Ibrahim, Minister of Energy and Mining of the Republic of the Sudan.
Insufficient exploration of the territory
«In Kenya we do not explore enough, we got room for improvement. When we look at the potential of the country, we understand how enormous it is. Prospecting surveys reveal there are deposits of high-quality gold in the country’s West,» Christopher Kiptoo, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives of the Republic of Kenya.
«We know what to do with underexplored territories. Africa is such territory and — surprisingly — Russia is still such territory. Our exploration level is 3 times lower than that of Canada and Australia,» Evgeniy Kiselev, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation.
Lack of financing
«New geological exploration instruments are in demand. The old tools are not enough anymore. The main problem we are facing right now are limited financial resources for geological exploration. This concerns most African countries,» Sergey Gorkov, General Director, Chairman of the Management Board, Rosgeologia.
Violating environmental standards
«Apart from social responsibility, business must be environmentally conscious. For the majority of African countries that mine gold this is a huge problem,» Boris Ivanov, Managing Director, GPB Global Resources
SOLUTIONS
Improving
the legislature
Cooperating with competent and socially conscious partners
«Our company possess notable competences that allow us to compete with our colleagues in the industry and we are ready to share them,» Vladimir Marchenko, Vice-President, ALROSA.
«When we search for new ways of uranium extraction, we look for innovative, environmentally friendly and safe solutions. It is not purely economical, it is a moral choice for us,» Marina Liborakina, Deputy General Director for Corporate Development and Communications, Techsnabexport.
Accounting for territorial specifics
«Africa is a self-sufficient, independent, sizeable, living business-organism with a wealth of particulars and traits. Without taking them into account it is not possible to work in the country,» Alexander Ivanov — First Deputy General Director for Mining and Metallurgy Projects, Vi Holding.
