Chilenye Nwapi*
INTRODUCTION
In 2008, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union (AU) established a joint technical taskforce to articulate a mining vision for Africa. The resulting Africa Mining Vision (AMV), which was adopted by African Heads of State and Government in February 2009, was informed by the continent’s recognition of its enormous mineral potential, the importance of mineral resources to Africa’s industrialisation and socioeconomic development, and the fact that in most African countries only very little progress has been made to maximise the opportunities.1
* Senior Fellow, Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development Afe Babalola University, Nigeria. This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s “Mining, Environment and Society” Conference: Beyond Sustainability – Building Resilience, held in Johannesburg from 12-13 May 2015. The Institute reserved the right to publish that earlier version in its journal.
1 African Union (AU), Africa Mining Vision, February 2009, accessed 8 December 2015.