A two-day workshop for public officials from various ECOWAS member States on the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) and the ECOWAS Minerals Development Policy (EMDP) opened in Accra on Monday.

Organised by the Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa), with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), the workshop is to help accelerate the implementation of the AMV and EMDP as the strategic drivers of minerals-led development in the ECOWAS region.

It is also to make recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the AMV and EMDP as the strategic drivers of minerals-led broad-based development in the ECOWAS region.

Mr Ben Aryee of the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources said the narrow definition of mining to be just the extraction of minerals and the limited focus on maximising government revenue must change.

He said the paradigm shift was critical for the sustainable growth and development of countries on the continent.

Dr Yao Graham, Coordinator of TWN-Africa said the meeting would update and deepen knowledge of the AMV and the EMDP, policy implications and implementation challenges.

It is also to enhance collaboration and networking among state officials towards the implementation of the AMV and EMDP.

The workshop continues to build on TWN-Africa’s long history of work in promoting a reform agenda aimed at optimising the developmental value of Africa’s minerals whilst strengthening democratic accountability in decision making and responsiveness of states and companies to the conditions of mining communities and workers in the sector.

TWN-Africa has been contributing to work on the Africa Mining Vision since 2008 including regularly organising capacity building events for CSOs and others. Over the period, in addition to its strong engagement with other African CSOs TWN-Africa has built a strong collaborative relationship with the key African institutions such as the African Union Commission, UNECA UNCTAD and UNDP.