South Africa looks north to Canada for mining industry
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By Elizabeth Payne, OTTAWA CITIZEN
November 27, 2013
South
African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was in Ottawa to encourage Canadian
investors to help support and expand his country’s mining industry
Photograph
by: Chris Mikula , Ottawa Citizen
The deputy president of South Africa
picked an auspicious day to come to Ottawa in search of investment in the
country’s mining industry.
On the same day Kgalema Motlanthe
was encouraging Canadian investors to help support and expand the country’s
mining industry, a controversial shift in Canadian foreign policy was being
unveiled.
That shift, which makes economic
diplomacy a focus of Canadian foreign policy, was unveiled by Trade Minister Ed
Fast on Wednesday. Canada has already made mining a key component of its
foreign policy. The move announced this week, which would focus diplomatic
efforts on commercial success in emerging markets, has drawn criticism. But it
could support what South Africa is looking for — increased Canadian investment
in its troubled mining sector.
There are hurdles to be overcome to
build investor confidence, notably over labour unrest that saw 34 people killed
during a South Africa miner’s protest in 2012. The country’s mining industry
has also been ranked uncompetitive compared to peers around the world.
Countering those perceptions was a
focus of the high-level visit to Canada in which the South African delegation
spent several days talking up the economic benefits of investing there. The
visit including a stop on Parliament Hill Wednesday as well as a trip to the
Toronto Stock Exchange which is home to a significant amount of the world’s
mining investment.
South Africa is an economic
powerhouse of the African continent, but Motlanthe acknowledged that it is also
a country of economic contrasts. It boasts world-class financial institutions
and infrastructure, but also developing world conditions.
Meanwhile, it is also a country that
is working to transform itself with a post-apartheid agenda that includes
economic enfranchisement for populations that were previously disenfranchised.
It is also dealing with an AIDS/HIV epidemic and high rates of youth
unemployment.
The country has a population of 51
million, 41 million of whom were excluded from economic involvement before
1994, South Africa’s ambassador to Canada Membathisi Mdladlana told a panel
discussion at the Chateau Laurier.
The South African government has a
strategy to move its growing mining industry away from the days when it was
marked by environmental degradation and “human suffering,” in Motlanthe’s
words. The aim is a sustainable industry that “protects the environment,
develops the economy, cares for human beings and is safe for the workers.”
South Africa has not joined the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, but government officials called
it a leader when it comes to transparency.
Its mining industry has grown in
recent years, from 500 mines in 2004 to 1,700 now.
South Africa’s deputy president met
with mining companies, bankers and asset managers during his visit to Canada.
He was also scheduled to meet briefly with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Bilateral trade between the two
countries was more than $1.3 billion in 2012.
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