Canadian mining seminar promotes investment in African mining
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By: Carla Thomaz
12th February 2010
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The largest Africa-focused mining event in North America for the international mining and financial communities is taking place on March 9, 2010, in Toronto.
The Canada-South Africa Chamber of Business’s eleventh annual mining breakfast and MineAfrica’s eighth annual Investing in African Mining seminar will take place during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, which is the largest mining investment show in the world. The seminar offers mining companies, service providers and African governments an opportunity to promote themselves to a high-profile Africa-focused audience.
“With over 300 non-African mining com-panies in Africa, of which 50% are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, the importance of Canada to Africa is evident,” says Canada-South Africa Chamber of Business president Bruce Shapiro.
He adds that Canada has the most vibrant junior mining sector in the world. A wealth of opportunities exists in the African region and, while a great deal of wealth has been realised, there remains much to be explored and Canada has a strong ability to raise capital. As a result, interest in Africa remains high and the Canada-South Africa Chamber of Business is active in developing business relationships and promoting opportunities.
One such opportunity is the chamber’s yearly mining breakfast. The opening address of the Canada-South Africa Chamber of Business’s eleventh annual mining breakfast during this year’s PDAC convention will be delivered by the Democratic Republic of Congo Deputy Prime Minister responsible for infrastructure, Emile Bongeli. The keynote address will be by junior gold exploration company Banro Corporation chairperson Simon Village.
The breakfast will be followed by Mine-Africa’s eighth annual Investing in African Mining seminar, which provides a forum for companies with projects in Africa, governments seeking investment, and law firms and experts advising on how to do business in Africa’s mining industry.
The 2009 breakfast attracted 235 participants and the seminar featured 20 presentations on the importance of Africa as a mining powerhouse. While this was not the highest recorded attendance, Shapiro is confident that this year’s attendance will move towards its 2008 high of 300. Last year, 75% of the audience were from management level; 52% from mining companies or financial institutions; 51% from Canada, 32% from Africa and 11% from the UK.
The seminar features a number of presentations by African governments, mining companies active in Africa, and financial, legal and engineering experts on doing business in Africa, which enables networking and relationship building opportunities.
Shapiro notes that, for Africa, it is important to attract western companies that use sound corporate governance practices in their operations and that have shareholders with the will and capacity to ensure that these practices are enforced. He adds that there is increasing interest in Africa from other regions that do not promise the same corporate social respon-sibility practices. Further, MineAfrica provides an ideal platform for companies and African countries to get their message across to the North American and UK markets.
Edited by: Shannon De Ryhove
www.miningweekly.com/article/...t-in-african-mining-2010-02-12
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