Africa’s premier gathering for mining stakeholders, African Mining Week (AMW), will feature a distinguished lineup of regional and global energy leaders at its 2025 edition, taking place on October 1–3 in Cape Town. Confirmed speakers include Francesco La Camera, Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); Oliver Johnston, CEO of SOLINK; Richard Doyle, Managing Director of JUWI South Africa; Grant Berndsen, CEO of Terra Firma; and Dr. Vincent Amu, Managing Director and CEO of Oildynamix.
AMW 2025 will provide a platform for dialogue on best practices and innovative solutions to ensure a resilient energy supply for Africa’s mining sector. The event will feature high-level panel discussions, deal signings, project showcases and exclusive networking sessions aimed at strengthening collaboration at the energy–mining nexus.
IRENA’s La Camera will participate in the Critical Minerals & Value Creation: Africa’s Step Beyond Extraction panel. This discussion will highlight Africa’s pivotal role in the global energy transition, given its 30% share of the world’s critical minerals – including cobalt, lithium and copper – essential for renewable energy technologies. Mineral-rich countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s largest supplier of cobalt, and South Africa, the top producer of platinum group metals, will play a central role as global demand for critical resources is projected to quadruple by 2030.
SOLINK, JUWI South Africa and Terra Firma will be represented on the Resilient Energy Mix: Balancing Renewables and Traditional Resources for Sustainable Mining panel. This session will explore strategies for integrating renewable energy into mining operations to enhance energy security, reduce costs and meet ESG commitments.
Meanwhile, Oildynamix will host a workshop showcasing innovative technologies and services designed to improve efficiency in drilling, exploration and production across the mining and extractive industries.
Held under the theme From Extraction to Beneficiation: Unlocking Africa’s Mineral Wealth, AMW 2025 will bring together African energy and mining stakeholders with global investors and partners to drive collaboration, strengthen value chains and advance the continent’s sustainable development agenda.
Africa Fact: Winwood Reade described his visit to the Ashanti Royal Palace of Kumasi in 1874: “We went to the king’s palace, which
consists of many courtyards, each surrounded with alcoves and verandahs, and having two gates or doors, so that each yard was a thoroughfare . . . But the part of the palace fronting the street was a stone house, Moorish in its style . . . with a flat roof and a parapet, and suites of apartments on the first floor. It was built by Fanti masons many years ago. The rooms upstairs remind me of Wardour Street. Each was a perfect Old Curiosity Shop. Books in many languages, Bohemian glass, clocks, silver plate, old furniture, Persian rugs, Kidderminster carpets, pictures and engravings, numberless chests and coffers. A sword bearing the inscription From Queen Victoria to the King of Ashantee. A copy of the Times, 17 October 1843. With these were many specimens of Moorish and Ashanti handicraft.”
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Nigeria: You have two cows. You convince an old American woman to invest in them, but pocket the money and run.
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Bra / Bru – friend. This term is commonly used to call a friend, pal or buddy.