Africa’s mining sector is
vital for future economic
development but the continent
will have to prioritise power
delivery if it wants to move
forward and draw more
investors.
This was the message from
former UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair during a keynote
address at the annual Mining
Indaba in Cape Town last
week.
“I am an African optimist,”
said Blair to the 7000 delegates.
“Even with sharp declines in
commodity prices there are
tremendous opportunities in
Africa. There are adjustments
and changes taking place all
the time.”
Blair said statistics indicated
that China would this year
put into infrastructure in
Africa alone more than all the
financial institutions together,
indicating how important the
continent remained for the
Asian powerhouse.
“There is a very definite
paradigm shift between the
outside world and Africa. We
are moving away from countries
in Africa being dependent to
ones of partnership.”
He said African governments
should utilise these
partnerships properly to secure
more investment for their
countries.
He said access to electricity
was the single prerequisite for
success.
Countries, said Blair, that
managed to solve the power
crisis would attract far more
investors and would see
mining thrive far more readily
than those that continued to
struggle.
CAPTION
Tony Blair during his keynote address at last week’s Mining
Indaba in Cape Town.
Photo: Mining Indaba 2015
