African Ministers call for regional cooperation to industrialize mining sector

At the Mining in Motion international conference in Accra, Ghana, Tanzanian Minister of Minerals Anthony Peter Mavunde called for African nations to strengthen regional cooperation to transform mineral wealth into industrial growth and employment. He emphasized that while Africa holds over 32 percent of the world's known critical mineral resources, much of this wealth is exported without sufficient value addition.

Minister Mavunde urged African countries to reduce reliance on foreign aid for geological research and instead utilize domestic revenues to fund strategic mining projects. He cited Tanzania as a model, noting that under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the government allocates 10 percent of mining sector revenues to geological research. This initiative aims to expand the 16 percent of the country currently mapped through detailed research.

In Tanzania, legal reforms implemented in 2017 have strengthened resource management and encouraged domestic processing. The country now hosts more than eight gold refineries and over 16 processing plants for base metals, with the mining sector contributing 10.3 percent to the national GDP.