• IN THE STOPE
more decentralised through off-grid power solutions, as IPPs
continue to grow. Having independent power sources means
security for the consumer as well as the lowering of electricity
costs. I also see the private sector investing heavily in power
storage. Adequate power storage stabilises transmission
systems.
One of our significant challenges in this region is that
after 22h00, our power consumption begins to drop off,
and though it’s possible to reduce our power generation;
there are challenges to doing that. One of the problems of
lowering power generation is there is a tight limit to power
reduction, the other issue is that if your economic model
demands a certain level of production in a twenty-year
period, you can’t reduce output because of a dip in demand.
It is, therefore, better to have a reliable storage system
that makes the entire power set up more stable. I also see
energy becoming more mobile in the future. There will be
no need to build costly power plants in remote areas; power
distributors will have to have a central plant somewhere
then put energy storage batteries on trucks and send them
to service underserved regions regularly. Mobile energy will
enable rural areas to function, on a fraction of the required
investment. There have been murmurs about the viability
of electric cars in the future. The big question about the
prospect of electric vehicles is how and where will they be
charged? I, therefore, see storage as the biggest issue in the
energy industry now and in the near future.
AL: While at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town
last year, the president of Ghana put forward his mission for
mineral wealth to have more of a direct impact on the lives of
people within the continent. Could you elaborate on the role
mining can play in improving the lives of African people?
MP: The challenge we have in Africa is not so much how to
reap the benefits of having minerals. Our challenge has more
to do with not implementing the programs and setting up the
industries that need to exist to extract maximum value.
A mineral is only worth about 10% of its final value before
getting to the end consumer. Value chains are what
determine who benefits from the minerals. African countries
must, therefore, invest in industries that make those value
chains local so that the middlemen, for the most part, can
be our people. There is progress being made on this front
because certain agreements that allow free trade among
countries are in place. It means that if I am a producer
in the SADC region, I have a market of three-hundred
million people to sell to. We must have more creation and
generation of locally finished products as well as regional
custom unions to be able to take advantage of our mineral
wealth. Ghana has also made steps to ensure that everyone
with an African passport can enter their country. Ghana’s
move is significant because as business people, we want
to be able to travel freely so that we can invest and start
businesses across countries.
We have to remember that our borders as they are today
are only a century old, and we did not create them. African
borders may be entrenched in our constitutions and our
minds, but we must keep in mind that these are artificial
borders. The artificiality of our borders should make us rethink
the stringent visa requirements and the need for integration.
“One of the problems of
lowering power generation is
there is a tight limit to power
reduction.
AL: One of our main goals as a publication is to inform the
international community on the realities of doing business
in Africa. What would be your words of confidence to them,
especially when it comes to risk?
MP: There are a few critical things about doing business in Africa.
One of them is you can’t show up with a preconception that
everyone is corrupt, and you must be unethical to do business. In
our many years of operation, we have done business successfully
without feeling the need to do anything underhand. Secondly, any
foreign investor that does not feel confident enough to go at it by
themselves would do well to partner with a local player and move
through them. Investors must also have patience because though
opportunities exist, many industries are still at their infancy, and
they might struggle to find the competencies they require.
AL: You have travelled and lived in many different parts of
the world. What made you want to go back to your native
Botswana and set up shop there?
MP: Apart from wanting to develop my country and give
back to the people that invested in me, I also saw the
opportunities. I used to work in the European financial sector
and in a mature market like that; opportunities are few and far
between. An underdeveloped market like ours presents more
of a chance to make a change. The icing on the cake is good
weather, friendly people and great food. •
AfricaLive.net gave African Mining permission to use the
above article during the South African lockdown.
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38 • African Mining •May 2020
www. africanmining.co.za