By William Madouk
The Seventh Ministerial Summit of the Great Lakes region proposed a plan to promote value addition of minerals to empower local artisanal miners and create job opportunities for young people in the area.
Martin Gama Abucha, the Minister of Mining, said the region is rich in valuable minerals, including gold, copper, diamonds, uranium, manganese, lithium, nickel, cobalt, iron ore, bauxite, and marble.
“When you talk about value addition, we are saying we want to sell them [European] products, not raw material. We are not saying no, we are saying, can we do value addition in Africa?” Abucha queried.
“So, in our meeting today, and even in the future, we should be driving towards value addition but more important is illegal exploitation,” he added.
He underscored that the Great Lakes region must organize the mining sector which has been subjected to unscrupulous dealers for years, by embarking on value addition to create job opportunities.
“We will have thousands of jobs, maybe millions of jobs across the continent of Africa,” Abucha noted.
He continued “it will help prevent or solve some of our crises happening in North Africa. Where we see on a daily basis, thousands of our people dying – trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.”
Mr. Abucha emphasized that political instabilities in Africa, and particularly Great Lakes must be prevented, adding that member states must collaborate, regulate and modernize the mining sector.
“I want to inform this forum South Sudan has officially declared a public company for trading. We shall start trading in the next days,” he declared.
European Union Ambassador to South Sudan, Timo Olkkonen cites engagement and commitment of all countries are needed to responsibly seize the potential of the Great Lakes mineral wealth for the benefit of people.
“In today’s multicolored world, characterized by unseen levels of conflict and intense global demand for critical raw materials,
“There is ever bigger momentum for regional partnerships governed by common interests and mutual trust that allow pursuing ambitious objectives such as the development of regionally integrated mineral value chains for economic growth,” said Timo.
He said the ICGLR Initiative against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources has proven to be an excellent mechanism for advancing mineral resource governance in the Great Lakes region.
Attended by mining ministries of the Great Lake Region, the 7th ministerial summit encourages the upgrade of mineral value addition and fosters regional cooperation to enhance cross-border trade.
They also suggested that states must invest in geoscientific research, accurate and reliable geological acquisition and management to attract investment that promotes bankable mining projects.
South Sudan hosted the 25th meeting of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)’s audit committee, the Great Lakes ministerial summit against the illicit exploitation of natural resources on 4-5 November.
Including the 7th Great Lakes ministerial meeting on mineral value addition and cross-border trade on 6-8 November respectively.
ICGLR is an inter-governmental body that brings together 11 countries in an attempt to bring about sustainable peace, security and development.
It was founded in the 1990s at the time of conflicts in DRC and the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Its members are Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, DRC, Kenya Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola and South Sudan.
In October last year, ministers from the Great Lakes region met in Nairobi to draft a plan to combat the illicit trade in minerals. Part of the strategy included plans to harmonize laws, formalize the mineral sector, increase transparency and create a database to trace the origin of minerals.