Accra, April 29, GNA - The 8th biennial West Africa Mining and Power Conference (WAMPOC) is scheduled for Accra between May 26 and 27 this year to draw attention of stakeholders to the promotion of sustainable resource development. The two-day conference and exhibition will bring together officials of mining, transport, power companies to deliberate and explore the opportunity to build linkages that promoted other sectors of the economy. Participants from Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, among others will attend the conference.

Briefing journalists on the conference on Thursday, Dr Joyce Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines said the conference would draw attention to the fact that mineral development provided an opportunity for growth when well harnessed. She said the exploitation of the mineral resources should go hand in hand with the provision of relevant infrastructure and socio-economic development to ensure sustainable resource development. Dr Aryee said the mineral resources gave the country the opportunity for adding value and building linkages that promoted other sectors of the economy.

She said the too much focus on just revenue from the exploitation of the resources was a bane to a holistic development of the sector. She also said there was the need to mainstream mining into national development agenda while a serious thought was put to creating value from lesser known minerals. The event on the theme: "An International Networking Conference for the Mining and Power Industry in West Africa," will examine issues concerning finance, corporate social responsibility, and local content and legal and regulatory framework, among others. Dr Aryee said there was also the need to be interested in lesser-known minerals because they could help spur the development of the country. She cited marble and limestone, which could help in construction, whether for roads or housing which she added required stones and that Ghana has so much of them. 29 April 10