Reflecting on the Trending Themes in African Mining - Report
The mining sector has been concerned about modernising technology, digital systems, sustainability and social impact for a while now. However, in the past two years, the COVID19 pandemic, supply chain volatility and increasing pressures from shareholders to honour climate and social commitments have accelerated these discussions.
The Investing in African Mining Indaba, the largest event for Africa's mining industry, met in-person in May 2022. The gathering saw over 5000 professionals from across the continent and further afield gather and share knowledge about the state of mining in Africa, under the theme "Evolution of African Mining: Investing in the Energy Transition, ESG, and Economies”.
During the event and the numerous panels, presentations, discussions and meetings that took place, there were four dominant themes that emerged as the most important to the current strategic goals in the African mining sector. These were:
- Growth ambitions - despite setbacks over the past two years, governments and private sector are declaring ambitious plans for growth in the mining sector
- Environmental, Social and Governance concerns - ESG is becoming a top priority for CEOs and companies, and they require partnerships to execute on these ambitions, particularly as they focus on decarbonisation and green mining
- Reporting and Disclosure standards confusion - the importance of standardised sustainability reporting and disclosures is imperative to create a baseline for each industry
- Safety, organisational culture and leadership importance – embarking on a decarbonisation or net-zero journey require strong organisational culture, workforce capability, and commitment to safety.
These trends are connected in various ways and unearth a number of questions about the sector's ability to meet the changing world with the right mindsets and strategies.
In our report, "Insights into the trending topics at the 2022 Investing in African Mining Indaba”, three directors at dss+ - Mark Dickson, head of Energy Transition and Decarbonisation, Johan Coetzee, Director of Metals and Mining, and Rhyno Jacobs, Director of Sub-Saharan Africa – explore these four connecting themes that will govern the sector for the foreseeable future.
Download the report to learn:
- What are the major themes and topics that the African mining industry are currently grappling with?
- Is there true commitment to ESG and sustainability goals in the sector?
- How should the sector focus its energy to increase outcomes?
- What are the challenges to achieving sustainability goals and decarbonisation?
- What are the takeaways that can be applied directly to my mining operation?
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