African Mining May 2020 | Page 40

• 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. Contact details: [email protected] • https://africalive.net/ 38 • African Mining •May 2020 www. africanmining.co.za