South Sudan joins African minerals geoscience centre
By Damas Makangale,
Dar es Salaam
The Republic of South Sudan (RSS) has vowed to collaborate with other member
states of the African Minerals Geoscience Centre (AMGC) to make it a centre of
excellence in capacity building, training and regional geological survey that
fosters the development of the mining sector in Africa.
Speaking at the event
of raising the South Sudanese flag in Dar es Salaam recently, RSS Minister for
Mining Martin Gama Abucha said members states should use AMGC as a stepping
stone in transforming the African economic outlook and make the sector more
significant in contributing to national GDP.
He said the mining
sector in South Sudan had a great potential to contribute to economic growth
and to the development of South Sudan, the region and the continent at large as
the cornerstone of social prosperity.
“As a priority, the mining sector is engaged in
discussions with different governments and investors to conduct a comprehensive
and integrated geological survey of the country,” he said.
He explained that the
aim was to establish a system of mineral resources management, including the
improvement of the current cadastral system services and information centre for
the Ministry of Mining. “This will enhance our government priorities to enable
the mining sector contribute to national economic growth and development,” he
added.
He went on to say that
in that regard, it would enable the government, diversify the economy from oil
dependence which is a risk in the country and make mining investment
opportunities in South Sudan as a priority for future promising.
Mr Abucha said although
South Sudan faced the challenges of capacity building as a young nation due to
inadequate facilities for technical training and his ministry was hopeful that
the centre in Dar es Salaam would bridge the gap.
“Therefore, South Sudan
will use these opportunities to benefit from the AMGC in terms of capacity
building for South Sudanese geologists and geoscientists. In 2022, while
invited to attend the "Tanzania Mining and Investment Conference"
held in Dar es Salaam in February, we visited the AMGC.
“We were impressed with
the work undertaken by the AMGC, particularly training programmes and the
advancement of geological surveys in Africa. After we returned to South Sudan,
we immediately embarked on the process of becoming a member state,” he noted.
He further said his
nation appreciated the founding members of AMGC, whose work had proven to be
vital such as capacity building and training that the centre bridged the gap
between universities and practical work which was crucial in developing the
mining sector in the region and Africa in general.
For his part, High
Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya to Tanzania Isaac Njenga, who read a
speech of the Cabinet Secretary
for the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs of Kenya and
Chairman of AMGC Governing Council Hassan
Ali Joho said the AMGC started with the three member states of Ethiopia,
Tanzania and Mozambique in 1997 principally to carry out geological surveying
and to provide minerals exploration and consulting services for the programmes
of its founding member states.
“By early last year,
the membership had grown to eight states with a broader vision of promoting
socioeconomic and environmentally responsible mineral sector development in
Africa. South Sudan is, therefore, the 9th state to sign the
instruments of accession to the agreement concerning the establishment of the
AMGC. We have no doubt that your joining will strengthen the AMGC and add value
to its operations,” part of the speech reads.
He noted that the AMGC
offered an array of services that addressed crucial gaps in the minerals sector
such as lack of technical knowledge on minerals testing and identification,
evaluation, grading and value addition techniques among member countries.
Mr Njenga continued
reading the speech of the Cabinet Secretary Joho that the AMGC provided a
high-technology, state-of-the-art minerals analytical laboratory services and
geo-information data processing activities in addition to short-term
specialised training.
“AMGC is facing what I
would call ‘external threat’. As you may recall, the African Union established
the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) in 2016 in line with Agenda
2063. The entity has similar mandate to that of AMGC. Whereas Kenya, has not
yet ratified the instruments necessary to become a member of AM DC, we are
aware that several countries have done so and that the African Union Commission
has requested African countries to expedite the ratification and become member
states.”
AMGC
Director General Ibrahim Shaddad
thanked the South Sudan government for seeing the importance of joining the
AMGC, which is a renowned continental facility, which reflects Pan-Africanism spirit.
He
said AMGC had been pursuing joint ventures
that could provide high technology facilities to enhance its Pan-African capacity, mineral services
and joining South Sudan is part of their core function to invite more African
nations to join the club.
“We eye the AMGC to be self-sufficient, a centre of excellence and make it more attractive to other African countries to join it,” he explained.
The AMGC, formerly known as Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), was established in 1977 principally to carry out regional geological surveying and provide mineral exploration and consulting services for the programmes of its founding member states, namely Ethiopia, Tanzania and Mozambique, later joined by Uganda, Angola and the Comoros. Kenya became a member in 2006 and the Sudan joined in 2010.
Ends.