11th West African Mining conference opens today
Captains in the mining and energy sector from West Africa will be converging on Accra from today, Wednesday, May 28, for the 11th edition of the West African Mining and Power Conference (WAMPOC).
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The three-day event, which is being organised by Events and Projects International in collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, is on the theme, “Sustaining business growth through innovation in a challenging energy and mining environment.”
Speaking at a pre-event press briefing, the Chief Executive Officer of Lindiwe Corporate Services, Ms Rosaline Nutsugah, said the event was to bring together thought leaders, mining executives, captains of industry and a wide range of companies and individuals involved in the entire value chain of mining and power supply in Ghana and West Africa.
“We will also have a two-day conference with esteemed speakers from the World Bank, Goldfields, General Electrics (GE) and others. It will also open up avenues and encourage networking across both [mining and energy] industries, as well as bring innovative techniques into Ghana,” she said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
The Director of Public Affairs and Environment at the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Ahmed Nantogmah, said the exhibition and conference had been the main mining industry exhibition in Ghana and West Africa for 20 years.
“It is the most sought-after event on the mining calendar, and its growth and expansion is directly linked to the growth of mining and support companies in the West African sub-region over the same period,” he said.
The chamber, he said, had two objectives this year; to promote and protect the interests of Ghanaian and West African mining industries and establish thought leadership for finding solutions to national mining issues.
Exhibiting companies
According to event organisers, the exhibition would attract 27 companies from India, 16 from France, as well as a massive representation from Chinese energy and mining firms and other local industry players.
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Nine of the 16 French companies exhibiting at the show will be on the French national pavilion.
There would also be an Indian pavilion this year, with over 25 exhibitors exploring opportunities in the region.
A further innovation this year is that visitors to the conference would take part in a number of free workshops to be hosted.
GE Intelligent Platforms, a supplier of industrial software, control systems and embedded computing platforms to optimise their customers' assets and equipment, will be hosting a free seminar on ‘High Performance Automation Solutions for Mining and Power’.