UEMOA Min-Tel 2006

7-9 June 2006
Palais des Congres, Niamey, Niger

The Mining & Petroleum sectors within UEMOA, the ideal place to invest:

Africa, especially the UEMOA region, is an important part of the world in terms of mineral production. In order to attract private investment in this sector, the Union has recently established a common mining code, aimed at unifying investment laws. The Union benefits from large mineral resources of gold, diamond, iron, uranium, coal, tin, gypsum, phosphates, petroleum bauxite, nickel, magnesium, cobalt, copper, marble, etc. The UEMOA petroleum market is booming with a large amount of reserves remaining unexploited in many countries. Mining reserves in the region are estimated at several millions of tonnes.

Conference Topics:

• Mining investment opportunities within UEMOA
• Financing mining projects
• Recent developments in the UEMOA mining sector
• Niger’s mining potential
• Foreign direct investment overview of the UEMOA mining industry
• Mining contract: a strategic solution for African mines
• Presentation of the new West Africa mining code
• Refining petroleum products in the UEMOA region
• UEMOA oil and gas investments: present and future
• UEMOA cooperation for energy development

The UEMOA Market: an attractive market for investment:

UEMOA, the West African Monetary Union, represents a market of more than 70 million consumers with a common currency, CFA Francs. The member countries of the Union are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The Central Bank for West Africa (BCEAO) evaluates the financial capacity of the UEMOA region at approximately 300 million Euro, producing 33% of the GDP of the region. Total growth estimate for 2005: +3.7%.

UEMOA: a hub of trans-Saharan exchange:

UEMOA - especially Niger - has an important position between North Africa and sub–Saharan Africa, making the region a hub of trans–Saharan exchanges. Niger offers an entry to other UEMOA countries. In the last few years, the region has adopted a process of progressive liberalisation in terms of the economy in order to give the private sector a larger role in economic and social development. New investment codes have been established to attract foreign direct investment. In the mining sector, the exploitation of uranium, iron, phosphate, gold, nickel, cobalt, tin, precious and semi precious stones is important. Some countries, such as Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Niger are among the largest producers of minerals in the world. In a region as vast as UEMOA, where internal and external contact is required, telecommunication is a booming sector. The industry was recently opened to private investors.

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