With the focus on future-proofing at this year's Investing in African Mining Indaba, SRK Consulting has emphasised the nurturing of skills as a vital foundation for building inclusion and long-term resilience in the continent's mining ecosystem.
This is particularly true in West Africa, where gold production was estimated to have reached almost 12 million ounces in 2024. With gold's extended price rally, potential for industry growth is high, especially in those countries on the Birimian gold belt. The region is also home to other minerals that are critical to the global energy transition, further fueling Africa's industrialisation through downstream processing and manufacturing.
What the Indaba highlights once again is that the future impact of the sector depends on how responsibly mining is conducted, from the technical excellence of its engineering through to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. All aspects of mining are today subject to tighter and more demanding standards, and it is critical that all stakeholders collaborate in continuously raising the region's skill sets accordingly, according to Ivan Doku, Partner and Ghana Country Manager for SRK Consulting
Foster Local Expertise
"We need to be building on the depth of mining expertise that exists in West Africa, which has been developed over more than a century of mining in countries like Ghana", said Doku. "The region must foster local skill sets in response to changing standards and requirements both from government and clients".
One of the most important recent industry benchmarks, for instance, has been the 2020 Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). The breadth of GISTM requirements means that many more disciplines now need to be adapted or developed, he explained. This will be essential to the health and safety drive towards zero harm - another vital pillar of sector's future.
“Leading mining companies have embraced the GISTM and have been aligning themselves to the standard”, said Doku.“Irrespective of their host nation’s legislation, they are working towards standardising their compliance globally – so operations in West Africa are also having to come up to speed”.
