indaba09

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION
PRETORIA

Mining Indaba 2009
Ministers’ and Ambassadors’ Luncheon

12.30pm to 2pm on TUESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2009
ROOFTOP TERRACE
CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE



Remarks as delivered by Ms Ann Harrap, Australian High Commissioner Designate to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland


Good afternoon Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentleman.

It is a great pleasure to welcome you here to what is now the third Australian-Government hosted Ministers’ and Ambassadors’ Luncheon at Mining Indaba.

I welcome in particular the Ministers who have honoured us with their presence here today – from Botswana, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

We also have a number of Deputy or Assistant Ministers from Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia and Tanzania and a range of other senior figures from mining ministries across the continent, including Permanent Secretaries, Directors General, Chief Executives or Commissioners for Mining from Botswana, Eritrea, Ghana, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda, as well as Ambassadors from South Africa from Botswana, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal.

A very warm Australian welcome to you all – and to let you know that a guest list is available on your tables for your networking purposes.

Before I begin my formal speech I would like to express what I’m sure is our collective sadness and grief at the terrible tragedy that has befallen Australia this week. Over two hundred people have lost their lives as a result of the bushfires in Victoria, families have been devastated and whole towns destroyed.

This has been a dreadful week for Australia and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who have perished, with those who have lost their homes and with the communities that will be struggling to rebuild after such a devastating disaster.

Ladies and Gentlemen - it is very clear that this Mining Indaba is occurring in a very different economic climate than twelve, or even six months ago.

As we all know, the downturn in the global economy has intensified considerably and much of the world is now looking down the barrel of a prolonged and serious recession for 2009 and maybe beyond.

In Africa, while most countries may have escaped the initial direct effects of the global banking crisis, the flow-on effects will have a significant impact on economies here too.

The crisis threatens to undo the important gains made in recent years in combating poverty in the continent and it threatens progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The mining industry has obviously not been immune to the slowdown. As many in the audience would know better than I, the mining industry, both here in Africa and elsewhere, has experienced project delays, cutbacks and shutdowns. While there remain some sectors of growth, some mining groups, particularly junior miners and mining service companies, are understandably falling on hard times.

But it is in hard times, when the going gets tough – that you learn who your friends are. And Australia (both government and business) is a true friend of the developing world and a true friend of Africa.

Internationally, the Australian government is doing what it can to help minimise the impacts of the global downturn on emerging markets.

We are helping to drive, including through the G-20, the unprecedented policy co-ordination among the world’s political leaders that will be required to stabilise financial markets and stimulate the global economy.

And we continue to push for a conclusion of the Doha Round of trade talks. In our view, protectionism is not the answer – the closing of borders, restricting trade and attempting to rely solely on domestic markets – is not the way forward.

So, on the international scene Australia is not hunkering down in these difficult times – and neither are we doing so in relation to Africa. At a time when some countries are turning inward, Australia is looking to expand its engagement with the continent.

Just two weeks ago, the Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, visited the African Union summit in Addis Ababa - the first Australian foreign minister to ever do so – where he met bilaterally with over thirty of his African counterparts and addressed the Executive council of the AU.

Next week the Australian Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, will visit South Africa to strengthen cooperation between Australia and South Africa in the field of science and technology.

The high-level political engagement is one indication of the new emphasis that Australia is placing on Africa.

But this growing political relationship is underpinned by considerable people-to-people links, educational linkages and commercial dynamism. In this room today we have:

A representative from the University of Newcastle – a premier education institution in Australia that will be investing an impressive A$3 Million in fee Waiver Scholarships to the countries of Sub Saharan Africa over the next three years.

We have colleagues from the Australian Football League and the Collingwood Football Club. Over 17 000 South Africans have embraced “footyWILD”, the local version of AFL and the AFL and four partner AFL Clubs think the time is right to develop “footyWILD” more in South Africa, and possibly further afield – there may be opportunities for many of you to assist in fuelling this growth.

And we have representatives from the Queensland Government - Queensland has its own internationally-competitive and export-oriented mining industry and the government there has done much to ensure that Queensland expertise in the sector is shared with African partners.

The Australian Government intends to build on these excellent foundations.

Australia wants to be part of Africa’s future in areas where our expertise and experience can make a positive and unique contribution to the continent’s development.

So as part of our enhanced engagement, Australia will implement a new and expanded development assistance strategy for Africa - that will continue to focus on skills development.

Australia’s strong resources sector has fostered the development of high levels of expertise in Australia in engineering, construction and project management, high technology services and software, amongst other fields. In recent years, we have been able to facilitate the sharing of some of these skills with Africa.

For example, we have funded several short-term fellowships for governments in eastern and southern Africa, in natural resources governance. Professionals from Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have benefited from the programme.

What we are aiming for now is a ten-fold increase in our fellowships and scholarships from across Africa as a whole.

This will see up to 1,000 scholarships and fellowships available – and one of the areas of focus will be the mining and resources sector, which is good news for governments wanting to further develop the human capital of their African workforce.

I’ve explained why the Australian Government is a friend of Africa but in fact half of this room is filled with equally true friends from the business sector.

Australian companies have well and truly discovered the promise and potential of this continent. There are currently over 300 Australian mining, oil and gas companies active in Africa with a staggering U$20 billion worth of current and planned investment.

From platinum in South Africa, to uranium in Namibia, to copper in Zambia, to gold in Ghana and the Congo, the high levels of skill and expertise and the positive ‘can-do’ attitude of many Australian miners and service companies is helping to develop the mining industries of many African countries, with high economic benefits to both Africa and Australia.

As an Australian High Commissioner in Africa, I am proud to see Australian companies making a difference. In my view, most Australian companies possess key attributes that make them essential business partners:

• the high premium that they place on safety;

• the importance that is placed on environmental sustainability and protection;

• and the focus that Australian companies place on building the skills of their workforce.

Of equal importance is that Australian mining companies understand their corporate social responsibilities - the importance of working cooperatively with local communities to provide local jobs and community development.

Australia's Adamus Resources Limited (ARL), for example, which is developing its Southern Ashanti gold project in Ghana's Western Region, has partnered with the Australian High Commission in Accra to provide vocational skills training to women who live in communities near the project. Fifty women have now received training in skills such as catering, bread making, textiles and soap making, and were supplied with equipment to start their own businesses. It is expected that many will ultimately find employment with the Adamus mine, once it is operational.

The Australian Government is particularly supportive of companies that pursue social responsibility initiatives. Businesses that can make a contribution to a reduction of poverty in Africa deserve encouragement.

I want to also briefly touch on the role of Australian companies in upholding the highest standards of ethical business.

Australian companies have built a deservedly high reputation in mining circles in Africa for good, honest mining practice.

It is an overriding concern of the Australian Government that this remains the case. Australian companies engaged in the international mining sector must work with integrity, promote good business ethics and maintain Australia’s hard-earned reputation for honesty and best-practice.

The Australian Government, for its part, is committed to promoting better governance and transparency in resource-rich developing countries, including through our support for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Australia also has enacted a set of rigourous anti-corruption laws that have extra-territorial effect, meaning that corrupt acts committed by Australians or Australian companies abroad can be punished under Australian law.

I, along with my fellow Australian High Commissioners, am duty-bound to report immediately and without exception any information that comes to me about the breach of Australian law by Australian businesses abroad.

This is not, of course, what we expect of Australian companies abroad. Nor is it what we see. What we see, are committed Australian miners and mining services companies, playing to their strengths and making a valuable contribution to African economies and African development.

But where do we go from here. What is the immediate and medium term future for mining in Africa? And what role will Australian miners play in it?

Of course in a way, Australia and Africa find ourselves in the same boat. Like many countries in Africa, much of Australia’s prosperity derives from its mining and resources sector. So the challenges we face are in part challenges we need to face together.

In such times, countries with attractive mining codes and investment rules will invariably be the ones that prosper. Many important reforms in mining sector governance have taken place across Africa in recent years, and the global economic slowdown strengthens the case for these reforms to continue. Investors will be looking for environments where some degree of political and commercial certainty can be guaranteed.
And, of course, there still remain significant business opportunities in Africa, particularly for companies that take the long-term view and pursue strategic expansion.
In my view, it is precisely the strengths of Australian mining companies that I outlined before – their hard-earned reputation as skilful operators with their ‘can-do’ attitude, their flexibility, keen sense of responsibility to the communities in which they work and their promotion of good and ethical business practice – that will stand them in good stead for the future.

By bringing together African Governments and Australian companies, as we have done this week, the Australian Government is pleased to play a role in promoting Australian involvement in the mining sector in Africa.

Our presence at this Indaba is a clear signal to the countries of Africa that Australia – both Government and business – is a true friend through the good times and the bad. We will again be hosting the Africa Down-under conference in Perth in September – a further sign of our intention to deepen our partnership with Africa in the resource sector.

In times like these, it is precisely these sort of events that are so vital in keeping investment strong.

I encourage you all to attend our Regional Roundtables tomorrow. These will be held in the East Ballroom, just opposite the Ministers’ Lounge. The morning session, kicking off at 9am, will have a focus on West Africa, and the afternoon session, kicking off at 1.30pm, will see a focus on East and southern Africa.

I want to reiterate that the Australian High Commissioners and Ambassadors across the continent, most of whom are present here today, stand ready to provide support [introduce them]:

• Ms Lisa Filipetto, our High Commissioner based in Kenya.
• Mr Billy Williams, our High Commissioner based in Ghana.
• Mr John Courtney, our Ambassador based in Zimbabwe.
• Ms. Cathy Johnstone, our High Commissioner based in Mauritius.
• Mr Jeff Hart, our High Commissioner based in Nigeria.

as well as our Senior Australian Trade Commissioner for Sub Saharan Africa:

• Mr Greg Hull

I will finish by reiterating my thanks to the Ministers, Deputy Ministers and other senior officials that are present – I encourage you to visit the Australia lounge as often as your schedules allow, shake as many Australian hands as you can, get to know us even better and explore the opportunities to work together with Australian miners, mining service companies and investors in your home countries.

Thank you.