By Sadique Bamwita
ENTEBBE
The outgoing State Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Dr. Peter Lokeris has urged all African countries to adopt a singular continental Geoscientific database so as to be able to unlock the potential of mineral resources that exist in African continent.
The Minister who was recently appointed the Minister for Karamoja Affairs believes that to fully unlock Africa’s mineral potential, there is need for African countries to have the spirit of collaboration and excellence that defines Pan African Geology(PanAfGeo).
He made the comments in Entebbe on March 26, 2024 while addressing Geoscientists from over twenty African countries who successfully completed a refresher training course in Geoscientific mapping conducted in Kabale district.
Dr. Peter Lokeris, said in order to have an effective and efficient Geoscientific database in African continent, it was imperative to first equip Geoscientists with skills and expertise needed to ably unlock Africa’s mineral potential.
“We have brought together African Geoscientists to enable them learn field geoscientific mapping so that they can identify areas where mineral deposits exist in any part of Africa. And this can be made possible by creating a database for potential investors to confirm whether minerals exist in a particular area without fidgeting around or gambling where to get them. Such mapping trainings enable people to exploit the minerals for the country’s development and employment of people,” he said.
He says that once minerals are discovered, there will be direct employment for people in areas of refinery, transportation etc adding that through initiatives like PanAf Geo, the country is not only building the culture of mineral potential but innovations.
“Though the terrain for mineral resources is mountainous, we hope to overcome this as we progress towards advanced scientific research, “Hon. Lokeris explained.
The Permanent secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Eng. Irene Pauline Batebe noted that the creation of a singular continental scientific database will help to support African Geoscientists to understand and identified potential areas of mineral resources in African continent in addition to helping them on how to deal with intricacies involved in Geoscientific mapping.
“During the training our Geoscientists appreciated the rock and terrain of Kabale areas. The training is so crucial as we are at where the global world is discussing aspects of energy transition. We as planners and Geoscientists we play a pivotal role to support our governments to be able to occupy mineral resources and thereafter develop them in a manner that will support transformation of our country.
“Our generation and generations to come can’t continue to just watch our mineral resources in our continent. So, as government we have put in place a policy that emphasizes value addition. Our African countries are blessed with potential mineral resources and we keep boasting about them but this is not enough as the potential must be shown at work and that’s our role, “Eng. Batebe expressed concern.
The Acting commissioner Geological survey services at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Dr. Alex Fred Tugume, expressed optimism that the creation of a singular continental scientific database will help investors to know the type of minerals available, and their location hence easing mineral exploration and accessibility.
“Training Geoscientists on African continent is an initiative aimed at creating an African database where mineral exploration is a tool used in exploring mineral resources. It’s quite very important to know the minerals we have in the country, their type and where they are located so that we can improve in terms of exploration and mining so that when an investor comes doesn’t go through the process of exploration but goes straight to a point where minerals are.
“Most companies don’t want to do exploration because the risk is high. So when you have a well marked country in all aspects -the risk for the investor is reduced. That’s why we want to enhance this tool of exploration to be able to explore the whole of Africa by creating a scientific Geoscience database that is helpful and easily accessible,” he added.
The Executive Director of Minerals African Development Institute, Mr. Frank Mugyenyi expressed displeasure on the low exploration of mineral resources on African continent and urged all African countries to be able to negotiate better deals.
Meanwhile, some of the trainees from different African countries, said the knowledge acquired during the refresher training in Geoscientific mapping has been impactful to them and pledged to use it to change the field of Geological survey and mines.
