The dice for the West African Mining Activities Week (WAMAO) are officially launched this Thursday, September 28, 2023. Scheduled until September 30, 2023, this edition is being held under the theme “Mining in Africa: what strategy to impact the development of local economies? “.
The ministry in charge of mines wants to reassure investors and consider bringing together investments in this sector, by organizing the West African Mining Activities Week (SAMAO) from the start of this initiative. This is also the objective of the 5th edition of this event, officially launched this Thursday, September 28, 2023.
“Mining in Africa: what strategy to impact the development of local economies? », this is the theme which will be used to achieve this objective. This objective, according to the president of the organizing committee Jean Baptiste Kaboré, is to reassure investors about the resilience of the sector in order to attract new partners.
To achieve this, over three days, communications sessions related to the central theme will be addressed by specialists in the sector. Technical sessions on themes relating to the rehabilitation of mining sites, the energy transition in Africa, B2B meetings, exhibitions of mining equipment and machinery and an awards ceremony will also be part of the event.
In addition to these activities, excursions to a mining site and a quarry site are planned with a mining meeting, according to the organizing committee.
According to the president of the organizing committee, the choice of this theme aims to contribute to structural changes in the mining sector in order to better integrate mining into national economies in general and into local economies in particular in the aim of optimizing the exploitation of mining resources.
“ It will also allow the exchange and sharing of experiences on initiatives aimed at improving the integration of the extractive sector in the development of local economies,” he said.
The holding of this fifth edition of SAMAO is proof of the resilience of the Burkinabè people who, “ in the face of the security situation, have never given up,” according to the minister in charge of mines Simon Pierre Boussim.
“ It is an opportunity for all stakeholders involved in the mining field to propose strategies and solutions for better integration of mining into local economies in order to promote the economic and social development of our different countries,” underlined the minister in the name of the president of the transition, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, also president of publishing.
It is therefore a 3-day immersion meeting in the mining sector which has just been launched with the participation of Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast, Guinea, etc. As a reminder, this sector as of December 31, 2022, industrial production was estimated at 57.68 tonnes compared to 67.1 tonnes in 2021.
As for direct jobs, they are estimated at nearly 19,000 on the same date. On the African level, Burkina Faso occupied 4th place as a gold producing country in 2022 after Ghana, Mali and South Africa.