Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has stressed the need for Africa to act as one on issues around mining and commodities.
The AUC boss made the assertion while receiving in audience Monday the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), Najib Balala.
According to the AUC, the two exchanged thoughts on the countless opportunities, as well as the challenges that exist around the mining sector in Africa.
Dr. Dlamini Zuma affirmed the AU’s determination to champion and attain the African Mining Vision, and expressed the commission’s support to efforts being made, in partnership with the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the UNDP, to implement a five-year project aimed at contributing to the delivery of the African Mining Vision.
She urged Balala to have a SEAMIC representative join the AU strategy team on mining and commodity exchange.
For his part, the SEAMIC Governing Council Chair, who is also Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Mining, thanked Dr. Dlamini Zuma’s for her representation at the Mining Indaba held in South Africa recently.
He enjoined the AU to uphold the much needed continental leadership in this area, and extended an invitation to the AUC Chairperson to attend the SEAMIC’s Governing Council meeting in May, during which the centre plans to stretch beyond its sub-regions to embrace a continental agenda.
Based in Arusha, Tanzania, SEAMIC is a specialised technical institution founded in 1977 by member states to provide knowledge and information in the mining industry.
