The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called for stronger Public-Private partnership and collaboration to accelerate mineral investment, job creation, and economic growth in the region.
The call was made during the first SADC Ministerial High-Level Public Private Mining Forum held on 10 February 2026 on the margins of the 2026 Investing in African Mining Indaba in Capetown, South Africa.
The Forum was facilitated by Mr. Tapiwa Samanga, Group Chief Executive Officer at Production Technologies Association of South Africa (PtSA) and was attended by SADC Ministers responsible for Mining and Minerals, private sector under the Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa (MIASA), representatives of the Chambers of Mines from SADC Member States and other industry leaders.
Honourable Phumzile Mgcina, the Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources of the Republic of South Africa, on behalf of Honourable Minister Gwede Mantashe, Chairperson of the Committee of SADC Ministers responsible for Mining, highlighted the importance of strengthened cooperation between governments, private sector, and communities through policy harmonisation, optimisation of resource use and access, and the need for a collective voice on African mining issues globally.
The Deputy Minister emphasised that regional competitiveness improves when Member States move from fragmented competition to complementarity, and when SADC institutions coordinate implementation across borders.
The SADC Executive Secretary His Excellency Mr. Elias Mpedi Magosi underscored SADC’s position on minerals as anchored in a regional approach to the exploitation of minerals such that the developmental impact of finite mineral extraction is optimised for sustainable economic growth, industrialisation, and inter-generational equity.
He highlighted SADC's regional instruments, including the SADC Mining Protocol, Regional Mining Vision and the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015–2063) as key policy and strategic blueprints for the development of the mining sector in the SADC region.
H.E. Magosi outlined SADC's value proposition to investors, citing the region's potential as a coordinated, competitive, and investment-ready mining destination. He reiterated SADC's vision for a sustainable, well-governed mining industry that drives regional industrialisation and adds value to raw minerals, benefiting current and future generations.
On behalf of the Private Sector, MIASA President Mr Jean Luc Marquetoux and Executive Secretary, Mr. Vusi Mabena, welcomed SADC’s commitment to facilitate engagement between public and private sectors, highlighting the need for regular engagements that would lead to accelerated growth and transformation of the Mining Sector in the SADC region.
The leadership of MIASA affirmed Private Sector’s readiness to engage Ministers and the Secretariat through structured mechanisms that advance implementation of the SADC Regional Mining Vision, which aims to foster transparent, equitable, and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to drive sustainable growth and industrialisation across the SADC region.
The Forum agreed on key strategies to promote responsible mining in the region. These include leveraging SADC regional instruments and mechanisms under the Regional Mining Vision and Action Plan to ensure coherent implementation and reduce duplication across SADC Member States; implementing community benefit mechanisms, including formalisation pathways for artisanal miners to operate legally and safely, while reducing environmental harm; and strengthening regional training capacity and technology capability to support beneficiation, safety, and competitiveness in the mining sector.
To strengthen Mining cooperation in the SADC region, the Forum outlined key next steps to drive regional mining development. These include:
The SADC Secretariat will convene regular follow-up engagements, including extraordinary meetings for urgent issues, to sustain ministerial and technical cooperation.
Member States and MIASA will support private sector participation in strengthening regional mining governance and improving regulatory coherence.
SADC Member States and industry partners will prioritize cooperation on responsible mining, artisanal mining formalisation, skills development, technology capability, and policy harmonisation to support value addition.
The 2026 African Mining Indaba provided a platform for SADC to showcase its potential as a premier mining investment destination and promote regional integration and cooperation in the sector.
