Future-Proofing African Mining: Indigenous People And Mining Communities At The Heart Of Mining Indaba 2025
Mining Indaba – Africa’s premier platform for mining deals, investment and corporate networking for over 30 years – has announced its 2025 agenda, highlighting the voices of indigenous peoples and communities mainstreaming at the conference.
The new focus of next year’s event—— Invest in Indaba 2025 Mining – Reinforce Mining Indaba’s commitment to future-proof African communities by highlighting the experiences of people directly affected by mining.
“Meaningful integration and collaboration with mining communities and indigenous peoples is critical to shaping the future of the mining industry,” said Laura Nicholson, director of content and strategic partnerships at Indaba Mining. “Those closest to mining projects are vital stakeholders and important partners in building a sustainable and fair mining industry. This year, at the Indaba Mining Conference, for the first time we will see the participation of mining communities and indigenous groups. Delegates attend key sessions throughout the four-day event to present their views on key event themes.”
While the interests of mining communities and indigenous groups overlap, the two groups do have distinct characteristics. Aboriginal people have historical and ancestral connections to the lands they live on. They have an inherent, pre-existing connection to the land. Mining communities are formed as a result of mining activities and are made up of people who work and live in and around mines, which may include migrant workers and people who move to the area to pursue opportunities around the mines.
As an industry-leading event, Mining Indaba 2025 will build meaningful community engagement between organizers, strategic stakeholders and mining community representatives, promoting constructive dialogue and problem-solving around community-related issues.
“We look forward to direct engagement through the Mining Indaba Conference and networking opportunities between mining communities, First Nations, industry and government,” Nicholson said.
To build momentum ahead of the event, Mining Indaba 2025 is running a video competition in partnership with The Impact Facility, a social enterprise active in supporting the East African gold industry and artisanal mining communities in Congo’s copper-cobalt belt. “We are together invite Members of mining communities, representatives of indigenous peoples in mining areas, civil society organizations, activists and visionaries share their perspectives on building a fair, inclusive and responsible mining sector that can transform mineral wealth into lasting, multi-generational prosperity . ” -Verbeek, Co-Founder and Director of Partnerships and Innovation at The Impact Facility.
“We are inviting mining community representatives and First Nations to submit videos outlining what it means for future-proofing mining operations where they live,” Sturmes-Verbeek continued. “This competition is a concrete example of Mining Indaba’s commitment to inclusivity and will help stakeholders understand what changes need to be made to ensure mining communities thrive and coexist with local mining operations.”
Videos entered into the competition will be showcased at the Cape Town event, and the creators of the most compelling submissions will receive free access to Mining Indaba. The producers of the best videos will also be considered to speak at the event.
The video competition’s theme is “What does future-proofing African mining mean for your community?” More information can be found here.
“We are pleased to be able to integrate Aboriginal and mining communities directly into Mining Indaba 2025’s key plans,” said Nicholson. “As key stakeholders, they play a huge role in shaping the mining ecosystem, infrastructure and their relationships, and they are also key to future-proofing the entire industry.”
• Invest in Africa Mining Indaba 2025 will be held from 3 to 6 February 2025 at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC 1 & 2). The event remains Africa’s most comprehensive mining investment, finance and innovation platform.
