1. Pre-Mining Indaba Event February 4, Session 2 Closing the Mining Skills Gap in Africa: Overview
Christopher Sheldon
Sector Manager
Oil, Gas and Mining Unit
February 4, 2013

2. Top of the Mining Industry Agenda
In its report “Business risks facing mining and metals 2012” E&Y ranks the lack of skills as the second most important industry risk, after resource nationalism and ahead of access to infrastructure
In its report Mine: The growing disconnect 2012 pwc states – “Now more than ever, miners must balance the cost of either incentivising expats to go to far flung corners of the globe or training a local, developing workforce … The talent and experience the industry requires either doesn’t live near its new projects or is nearing retirement.”
In the Community Development Toolkit, ICMM recognizes that training and employing local people from mining affected communities is key to a mining company obtaining and retaining its social license to operate

3. Top of the Host Country Agenda
Skills are the bedrock of achieving better governance and more sustainable development outcomes
AMV Action Plan calls for “a competitive skills base that is knowledge based and drives an African industrial economy”
Direct employment in mining and mining support services
Low participation rates in skilled and managerial jobs
Low skill employment is prone to casualization and OHS concerns
Skill shortages constrain development of local supply bases and frustrate local content ambitions
Employment in regulatory functions
Thin pool of expertise to inform sound policy formulation
Low capacity to monitor and regulate the industry adequately and fairly

4. Role of Private – Public Partnerships
WB has launched a research program to examine the scope and modalities of PPPs in mining skills development in Africa, drawing on lessons from elsewhere and in other sectors
Today Professor Peter Cameron will present an Issues Paper with which the research is being launched
Feedback from today’s session will help define which areas to focus our efforts in the months to come
We plan to host a conference in September or October of this year to present the results of the research
Peter’s presentation will be followed by one from the Africa Mining Skills Initiative, a newly launched partnership between AngloGold, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and AusAid aimed at finding solutions to the mining skills gap

5. Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE)
Newly launched World Bank project to support development of ACEs:
Identified skill shortages in several emerging sectors that are key to Africa’s transformation – this includes extractive industries
Will provide funds to selected higher education institutions against results in a competitive selection process
West and Central Africa for Phase I; East and Southern Africa will be Phase II
Potential for 2 to 6 institutions within extractive industries, depending on successful proposals
Up to $8 million in each ACE supported
Call for Proposals – March 2013

6. Other initiatives supported by the World Bank
Country specific programs on mining skills, usually part of wider Technical Assistance projects:
Burkina Faso: Mineral Development Support Project (MGDP)- support to National College of Engineering at Fada N’Gourma ($2 million)
Nigeria: Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project -support of reconstruction of existing National Institute of Mining and Geology ($10 million) and academic support ($1.5 million)