Park Inn Hotel on Katherine Street in Sandton

EXPERIENCE SHARING WORKSHOP ON ‘MANAGING NATURAL RESOURCE ENDOWMENT AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AFRICAN AGENDA 2063’

Park Inn Hotel on Katherine Street in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, OCTOBER 24-25, 2013

PRESS RELEASE Maty Ndiaye Cisse Programme Associate AGI Tel +270847598323 [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Sandton, Johannesburg – the Africa Governance Institute (AGI) is organizing - in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and under the leadership of the African Union Commission - an Experience Sharing Workshop on the theme ‘Managing natural resource endowment and the implementation of the Africa Agenda 2063’, at the Park Inn Hotel on Katherine Street in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Otober 24-25, 2013.

Confirmed speakers include –

- H.E Abdoulie Janneh, Chair of the AGI Governing Board/ Executive Director Mo Ibrahim Foundation. - H.E Mr. Augosthino Zacharias, UN Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative. - Mr. Lebogang Motlana, Director of the UNDP Regional Service Center – Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. - Mr. Isaac Lobé Ndoumbé, Director of EFG, AfDB, Tunisia. - Mr. John Capel (Benchmarks Foundation, South Africa). - Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, Director of MPD, ECA, Ethiopia and designate Executive Secretary of ACBF. - Amb. Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, Bureau of the Chairperson. - Mrs. Caroline Ntaopane, Vaal Environnemental Justice Network, South Africa - Dr. Claude Kabemba (SARW, South Africa) - Prof. Adebayo Olukoshi on strategic planning (IDEP, Senegal). - Prof. Gilbert Khadiagala on the Global Context (WITS University, South Africa). - Dr. Moïse Nembot on the role of APRM (Governance and APRM Expert, South Africa). - Mr. Bhekinkosi Moyo, Executive Director, Southern Africa Trust

The objective of the workshop is to enable senior representatives of African institutions, think tanks and of Africa’s civil society to reflect on how to manage natural resource endowment of Africa in order to ensure the socio-economic transformation of African countries by 2063. Africa has been endowed with a great number of important natural resources. Its mineral reserves of bauxite, chromite, cobalt, hafnium, diamonds, manganese, phosphate rock, platinum- group metals, soda ash, vermiculite and zirconium rank first or second in the world. The continent is also a major global producer of these minerals. Africa has also abundant forest resources, fisheries and in terms of arable land. However, these resources do not contribute to its development and its economic and social transformation. In many parts of the continent, poverty prevails and co-exists with this natural resources wealth.

There is clearly a need to operate a shift of perspective in managing natural resource endowment of Africa. It is essential that Africa put focus less on simply mining but more on comprehensive mining developmental approaches integrating mining policy, good governance of natural resources and development policy. The vast mineral resources of Africa cannot be a key driver of socio-economic transformation of African countries if they are not linked with developmental objectives.