‘Mining On Top’ hosted its 5th ‘Africa Summit’ (MOTA)  in Geneva, Switzerland, July 3^rd – 4^th. The Summit comprised presentations and round-table discussions between public and private sectors; technology and investment were key themes.

Sean Finlay, Director of Geoscience Ireland (GI), participated at the event. Innovations in deep mining were outlined by professor Tawana Kupe of Wits University together with the challenging effect of new technology on work patterns. Industry panellists included Randgold, Iamgold, Goviex and Kibo; UNCTAD provided economic and commodity trends. 

Investment challenges were outlined during the ‘Generating Shareholder Value’ session. Attracting FDI in a competitive global market, and geopolitical risk were discussed during panel sessions; Angelos Damaskos, CEO, Sector Investment Managers, said “Many geopolitics rules out areas for investment as along with the commodity price, we might be exposed to the lack of rule of law”

A number of GI Member Companies are active in Sub-Saharan Africa. PW Mining and PW Nigeria operate mines, quarries and deliver infrastructure works in West Africa; Mincon is a specialist provider of drilling equipment; the FLI Group, which is a lining and remediation contractor, provides solutions to tailing dams; mineral, environmental and social consultancies firms include SLR (Ireland), Lisheen Technical & Mining Services, Verde Environmental and ERM (Ireland).