Ministers Validate the ECOWAS Mineral Development Policy

7 June 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Accra - Ghana — Regional Ministers in-charge of the Mineral Sector have validated the ECOWAS Mineral Development Policy (EMDP) and urged the Community Council of Ministers to recommend the approval of the policy and its Implementation Matrix to the Authority of Heads of States and Government.

At their one-day meeting in Accra, Ghana on Friday, 3rd June 2011, the ministers also called for the Gazetting of the ECOWAS Directive on the Harmonization of Guiding Principles and Policies in the Mining Sector in the 12 Member States where they are yet to be put in place. They also adopted the Terms of References (TORs) for the selection of the Host Country and Consultant in readiness for the operationalization of the ECOWAS Mineral and Oil Forum (ECOMOF). Addressing the meeting, Ghana's Deputy Minister of Energy Alhaji Inusa Fuseni, highlighted the need for a coordinated and integrated regional approach for the successful implementation of the EMDP.

He called for the strengthening of inter-state cooperation and the need to aggressively tackle impediments to sustainable development of mineral resources for the common good of the Community. In his introductory remarks, the ECOWAS Director, Industry and Mines, Mr. Lawson Henchelli-Mensah who represented the ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs, Industry and Mines, and Free Movement, Alhaji Mohamed Daramy, noted that the region was richly endowed with varied mineral resources which if properly harnessed will grow Member States' economies. Mr. Henchelli-Mensah said the region's mineral resources held great potentials to boost job creation and contribute to sustainable livelihoods for ECOWAS citizens.

He assured the meeting of the ECOWAS Commission's commitment to providing the relevant platforms for regular collaboration and synergy in the mineral sector. Opening the meeting, Mr. Henry Ford Kamel, Ghana's Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who represented the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, highlighted the benefits of concerted effort by ECOWAS Member States in the development of the emerging oil and gas sector. The meeting also reviewed the Report of the 1st Meeting of the Ad-hoc Committee (Monitoring the implementation of ECOWAS Directive), held in Dakar, Senegal last month.

At the preceding meeting, regional mines experts had called on the ECOWAS Commission to provide alternative proposals for a Roadmap on the Regional Cadastre System for consideration by the ministers. That meeting also recommended that a Working Group comprising Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone be set up to consider alternative proposals for the Regional Cadastre System, while Member States were requested to provide clear technical guidelines to determine the alternative proposals.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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