Mining sector: Alake pledges commitment to empowering women with relevant skills

Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), has affirmed the commitment of the African continent to equipping women with requisite skills to participate actively in the mining sector value chain.

Giving the goodwill message at the International Women’s Day Forum 2024 organised by the Women Miners Association, the Minister lauded the organisers for putting the progress and plight of women in the mining sector on the front-burner, emphasising the importance of investing in the development of women for leadership in industry and governance.

“We live in a world in which no one, no gender must be left behind. This is the logic of progressive transformation that we desire.

“The African Minerals Strategy Group is committed to empowering women with appropriate skills to enable them participate in the mining sector value chain, from exploration and extraction to processing and commerce. We support access to technical training in mining for our young women: we support start-up financial assistance for women mining entrepreneurs, and we champion the inclusion of women in the leadership of regulatory agencies,” he added.

Speaking further, Alake disclosed that the AMSG under his leadership will initiate annual studies on the progress Africa is making in the aforementioned areas and publish findings on subsequent International Women’s Day.

He charged the African continent to be resolute in its resolve to make value addition the strategy for wealth retention, stressing that African Ministers of Mining are determined to put in place policies which discourage export of raw materials and encourage industrial processing of minerals into semi-finished goods for exports.

“This will reduce the obnoxious legacy of unequal exchange, which African scholars see as the manifestation of neo-colonialism. Let us elevate the quality of commerce with our trading partners by offering more value. The faithful execution of this policy will provide more jobs and deepen capital formation in the mining industry,” the Minister said.

It will be recalled that on the sidelines of the “Invest in African Mining Indaba”, in South-Africa, Alake was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), a body of African Ministers of Solid Minerals/Mineral Resources championing value addition and maximum beneficiation from the continent’s vast mineral resources for the development of member countries.