More than two thousand participants expected from September 26 to 28 in Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou, 17 Sept. 2024 (AIB) – The organizing committee of the 6th edition of the West African Mining Week (WAMW) announced on Tuesday that the event will be held from 26 to 28 September, with the participation of more than 2,000 people, under the theme: ‘Critical minerals: What development strategies for African countries?’.
“This international event will bring together in the Burkinabe capital more than two thousand participants composed of experts, investors, researchers and visitors from diverse backgrounds,” declared the president of the Organizing Committee (OC) of the 6th edition of SAMAO, Doulaye Sanou.
For him, the event will be held from September 26 to 28, 2024 at the Ouaga 2000 International Conference Center under the high patronage of the Head of State, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, with the theme “Critical minerals: What development strategies for African countries?”.
Mr. Sanou, also Secretary General (SG) in
charge of Mines, who spoke to journalists on Tuesday, said that SAMAO has positioned itself for several years as a world reference meeting due to the enthusiasm it generates at each edition.
According to him, it also constitutes an important tool for supporting the development of the mining sector in Burkina Faso and other African countries.
“The mining sector occupies a prominent place in our country’s economy. Socio-economic data show a resilient sector of activity with satisfactory indicators, placing Burkina Faso on the African chessboard as a mining country,” he said.
According to Mr. Sanou, the total gold production in 2023 was estimated at 56,857 tonnes, and the direct revenues to the state budget at around 529 billion FCFA.
He also reported that for the period 2022 to 2023, the gold subsector contributed 13% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 19.2% to government revenue and 79.2% to total export revenue.
The CO president explained that the theme of SAMAO 2024 is evocative, because, he maintains
, it highlights other quarry substances such as granite, dolomitic limestones, tuffs, etc.
The Secretary-General of the Department of Mines stressed that the event will be punctuated by various activities, such as B to B meetings, exhibitions and visits to a mining site and a tourist or quarry site.
Doulaye Sanou noted that sub-themes will be developed by national and international experts with the aim of finding concrete avenues for the Burkinabe and African mining sector.
Source: Burkina Information Agency