TWN-AFRICA HOST INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON MINING

Third World Network-Africa in collaboration with the Review of African Political Economy, will host a regional conference on mining under the theme, ‘Beyond foreign direct investment in Africa’s mining sector’, in Accra, Ghana from November 5-7, 2008. The meeting will bring together activists, researchers, academics, members of parliament, experts from the UN system and government officials working in the mining sector from across Africa (Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Mali, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Congo DR) as well as Canada, the UK, and Lebanon.

The three-day meeting aims to discuss the contribution of foreign direct investment in mining to Africa’s development and the alternatives to it. The general policy framework, policy making, and impact of current mining operations on Africa’s development are some of the issues to be discussed. The meeting taking place at a time of the commodities boom and also on the heels of the just-ended, African Union Ministerial on Mining held in Addis Ababa,