MINING INDABA •

The Investing in African Mining Indaba returns to its favoured calendar slot in Cape Town , The South election Africa , from of President 6-9 February Mohamed 2023 . The Ould event El-Ghazouani promises to stir has up seen much Mauritania needed investment enter a

new discussion era conducive with its 2023 to sustainable theme : Unlocking foreign African investment mining investment and focused – stability on an , ESG-based

security and development supply . Ahead of model the Mining ( Environment Indaba 2023 Social , industry and Governance thought leaders ). share their opinions with

African Mining on where the industry is right now and where mining will take Africa in the coming year .

Contribution by SRK Consulting

Mining ’ s strong recent performance often belies the unprecedented disruption in economies across the globe ; as mining in Africa looks to unlock investment , it must continue to navigate ongoing uncertainties which bring heightened risk .

“ This led to considerable progress in developing just-in-time value chains that avoided large inventories , freed up working capital and enabled leaner operations ,” said Van Zyl . “ However , the economic lockdowns resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed the level of fragility in these supply chains , which have had to be reviewed .”

He pointed to the appearance of supply chain disruption on the latest EY report on ‘ Top 10 business risks and opportunities for mining and metals in 2023 ’ – fuelled further by Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine . The report highlights that logistics costs are up and delays for raw materials are long , increasing the cost and complexity of operating a mining company . It also predicts that the disruption is likely to endure for some time , leading miners to adapt their supply chain – as they prioritise relationships to find new opportunities while mitigating risks .

From JIT to JIC The approach has therefore been to pursue more of a just-in-case supply strategy for critical goods – to ensure continued effective operation while accepting the increase in costs . The pressure is now on to improve the resilience of supply chains , using levers

Supplied SRK Consulting | Pexels such as improved sales and operations planning , as well as better integration with logistics providers and customers .

Global inflation is also causing some concern , said Van Zyl , leading reserve banks to raise borrowing rates in response . There have been worries expressed about the possibility of slowing economic activity becoming an extended recession – which would undermine the stability and security of African mining investment .

There have been worries expressed about the possibility of slowing economic activity becoming an extended recession – which would undermine the stability and security of African mining investment , says SRK Consulting .