Monrovia - Liberia — The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, has inaugurated a 10-member Ad-hoc Committee to monitor the implementation of the ECOWAS Directive on the Harmonization of Guiding Principles and Policies in the Mining Sector of May 2009 and its accompanying plan of action.
The inauguration was part of the activities of the second meeting of ECOWAS Ministers in charge of mineral resources development which was held in Monrovia on Friday, 8th October 2010. The Committee, which will report to the President of the Commission, is headed by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs, Industry and Mines and Free Movement, and comprises two other representatives of the ECOWAS Commission and selected experts from Member States.
Among other functions, the Committee will ensure compliance with the Directive by Member States and ensure the operation of the presidential advisory body within the framework of the application of the Directive. It will also propose pertinent recommendations for the effective application of the Directive to the President of the Commission, in addition to preparing a six-monthly report for his consideration. Members of the Committee will also ensure that the Directive is published in the National Gazettes of Member States.
So far, Senegal is the only Member State to have gazetted the ECOWAS Directive. Earlier at the opening of the one-day meeting of the ministers, Ambassador Gbeho - who addressed the meeting alongside the Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy, Dr. Eugene Shannon and the Nigerian Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Musa Mohammed Soda who chaired the meeting - explained that "our deep interest in this sector at this time is driven by the shared awareness among Member States that our region is endowed with huge and varied mineral resources", noting that mining constitutes a major activity in the national economies of West African States. While outlining the benefits of the mining sector to Community citizens, Ambassador Gbeho recalled the ECOWAS mandate to harmonize all the mining policies and programmes of Member States.
He highlighted some of the achievements in the sector including the series of reforms in the mining sector undertaken by Member States with a view to opening up their economies so as to attract foreign investment. Such reforms, he said, were the development of national mining policies, defining the role of government as "Administrator-Regulator" while private sector is categorized as "Owner-Operator", review of the previous Minerals and Mining Acts to provide incentives to the private sector to participate fully in mineral exploitation as well as easy access to mining titles, exclusive rights and transferability of mining titles.
Others included establishing an autonomous mining cadastre system, defining clearly the roles of all tiers of government, giving environmental issues a high premium, ensuring host community participation, recognizing the role of artisanal and small scale miners and improved fiscal regimes. Ambassador Gbeho who spoke of the many challenges confronting the legal systems in Member States, expressed the determination of the ECOWAS Commission "to forge partnership with Member States, private sector groups, development partners and other stakeholders to initiate programmes for a sustained and integrated action to develop and regulate mining in West Africa".
"Our mission is to accelerate the integration of West Africa's mining industry and attract the mining investment needed to create wealth for the citizens while protecting and enhancing the social life and the environment of the local mining communities", declared the President of the Commission. To achieve this, Ambassador Gbeho stated: "we have to reform and strengthen legal and administrative frameworks for mining and put appropriate framework for enforcement of resolutions".
