Out of Africa: An update from Roger Staley

Reuters covered the Korea-Africa Summit in an article titled “South Korean, African Leaders pledge deeper ties, critical mineral development.” It reported that Yoon Suk Yeol said in his closing remarks that “The Critical Minerals Dialogue launched by South Korea and Africa will set an example for a stable supply chain through mutually beneficial cooperation and contribute to sustainable development of mineral resources around the world.”

Impressively, the South Korean President also pledged to offer $14 billion in export financing to promote trade and investment for South Korean companies in Africa. It is obvious, that if Australia wants to achieve greater economic stability, it needs to follow the Canadian – and now the South Korean – examples of embracing economic ties with key partner countries.

In response, DFAT encouraged AAMEG to develop a Submission to the Australian Government, suggesting the means by which Australian companies operating in Africa could be better supported. Subsequent discussions with DFAT and the Australian Critical Minerals Office highlighted that the AAMEG submission needed to focus on the benefits to Australia.  Accordingly, we ensured that our submission focused on delivering against the objectives of Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy 2023-2030.

I am pleased to announce, that after considerable effort by AAMEG’s Legal & Tax Working Group, we lodged our Submission “Strategic Partnerships for Critical Minerals: Advancing Australia’s 2023-2030 Goals through African Investment,” this week with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on June 4th.

It was gratifying to submit this body of extensive work and research. It marks a significant step forward in AAMEG’s advocacy efforts for the enhancement of Australia’s investment and economic relations with African nations, specifically calling for more Investor-State Dispute Settlement backed Bilateral Investment Treaties with African countries.

A copy of the submission is available at our website, with the back story and strategy below in this newsletter. We welcome comments and suggestions for continuing the momentum of this initiative.  Please email me: [email protected].

However, in my opinion, the Federal Budget and what I interpret as the “Make Australia Great Again” strategy fell well short of what might have been:

• Unsurprisingly, being an Australian budget, it was solely inward looking.
• Even the mentions of foreign investment only refer to other countries investing in Australia, not the other way around.
• This puts us alongside every emerging economy in the world and misses the opportunity to support the EXPORT of Australia’s expertise in mining and mineral processing and our high desire to do the right thing.  Just look at the world-leading ESG programs Australian companies provide in their host communities – they’re on display year after year at the Africa Awards.
• Sadly, the other big focus of the Budget speeches, taxes paid in Australia and what Minister King has delivered, have little or no relevance to Australian explorers and miners whose investment and work is beyond our shores.

We look forward to changing this myopic perspective through our efforts with our Submission to the Australian Government.  In it we recommend the implementation of Bilateral Investment Treaties backed by Investor State Dispute Settlements as a solution to closer political, economic and diplomatic support for all Australian critical minerals businesses, whether they be operating in Australia or overseas.

Well done, AMEC

The news of the Production Tax Credit scheme approval is an excellent adjunct to our advocacy work for the reinvigoration of Australia’s ties with Africa via Bilateral Investment Treaties with African nations. Together they will indeed “help companies become more competitive on a global scale” as AMEC states.

The more members we have, the more we can achieve through our pillars of Advocacy, Insights and Connections.

Roger Staley
AAMEG CEO