ON SITE
Re-mining the dumps of Johannesburg has been profitable and offers some opportunities for suppliers.
area. The government of Sierra Leone is
on a major drive to reform the economy,
and to change perceptions about a country
that has been backstage for so long.
Angola invites investors
Angola is another country that has made
great progress in opening its doors to
foreign investment. Recent reforms
by Angolan president, João Lourenço,
has hit a chord with investors, with a
lot of interest shown at the country’s
presentation in the Westlin Ballroom
across the road from the Cape Town
International Conference Centre on
day two of the Indaba.João Lourenço
started cleaning up government as soon
as he was appointed president a little
more than two years ago. One of his
aims was to diversify the economy and
focus specifically on the minerals and
mining sector. Angola is extremely rich
in mineral resources, but the State of
Angola controlled all land and mining
operations before Lourenço came into
power. However, the country is in the
process of selling off state assets and up
to now has privatised 195 government-
owned companies. This, of course, has
opened the floodgates, and exploration
companies are flocking to Angola to
secure their claims.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Many small-scale operations are
refurbishing old equipment to save costs.
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
The Angolan Minister of Mineral
Resources, Diamantino Azevedo,
reiterated his government’s commitment
to get rid of corruption in its bid to lure
foreign exploration companies to the
country. “We are committed to fighting
corruption and transparency is the new
ethos,” he said at the presentation at
Indaba. Azevedo called on especially
African plant and equipment suppliers to
set up shop in Angola, as there are many
great opportunities.
The Angolan government recently
put out tenders for a number of iron
ore, phosphate and diamond projects
and received 17 proposals from across
the globe. Last year, Anglo American
announced that it has taken up five
exploration licenses for copper, cobalt,
nickel and silver in Angola.
This year, there was a big delegation
of African mining ministers at Indaba. This
indicates the importance of mining to the
growth of these countries. Technology
and improved infrastructure have made it
easier for exploration companies to operate
in remote areas. This is good news for
countries like Sierra Leone and Angola for
example, where inaccessibility and a lack
of a proper understanding of the geology
has limited the mining industry in those
troubled parts of the world. South African
suppliers will be well advised to keep an
eye out for these projects, and it might
offer enticing opportunities, of course with
significant challenges and risks, but the
rewards can be as substantial.
APRIL 2020
15