Kenya Chamber of Mines to host EAMEC

EVENTS

Kenya Chamber of Mines

to host EAMEC

The Kenya Chamber of Mines (KCM) will host the Eastern Africa Mining and Energy Conference (EAMEC) – one of the largest conferences in the region’s extractives industry.

EAMEC is scheduled to take place on 12 to 14 October 2021 at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The event is regarded as Eastern Africa’s largest and only international and local mining and energy forum. It is designed to gather key players in the mining, oil and gas sectors for focused dialogue exploring the immense opportunities held by the region’s extractives and energy sector.

Endorsed and supported by Kenya’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, the conference provides a good opportunity for the public and private sector in the extractives and energy sectors to network and discuss any interventions aimed at growing and strengthening these spheres.

“As a government, we are alive and cognisant that the extractives industry is economically important to the Eastern Africa region. It provides employment, dividends and taxes that help governments deliver services to their citizens on one hand and returns to investors [on the other],” says Cabinet Secretary for Petroleum and Mining John Munyes. “Realising the economic benefits and wealth generated by mining for many producing countries, we have initiated appropriate legal frameworks that are supportive to the communities, citizens and investors. The reforms and status updates shall be presented during the conference,” he continues.

Addressing issues facing the regional sector

Building on the success of the Kenya Mining Forum, which has been hosted by the KCM for the last eight years, the conference sessions will include plenary and carefully selected break-out sessions centred on the principal issues facing the East African extractives sector. “Industry leaders, in particular, will take a closer look at the evolution and direction of the market and balance views on the ever-critical traditional and new policies and legislation, infrastructure plans, and technology maximisation,” says Moses Njeru, CEO of KCM.

The growing importance of the extractives industry in the region calls for more attention to be given to the social, economic and political dimensions of the sector. Making refence to a circular at the start of 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said, “To promote the sustainable development of the extractives sector, the State Department for Mining has been merged with the State Department for Petroleum, and has been re-established as a single state department within the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining.”

In this context, EAMEC provides a conducive platform for players in the sector to deliberate on how best to explore and exploit extractives potential in a sustainable manner for the mutual benefit of the region and investors. The conference will be conducted virtually and faceto-face observing Ministry of Health and WHO Covid-19 protocols.