New Bauxite Mining Venture in Cameroon Promises Thousands of Jobs | Voice of America - English
  Governments in Africa are taking steps to lure more investors to their mining sectors with friendly legislation and attractive tax breaks. One example is Cameroon, which has just wrapped up a deal with an American-led consortium to explore and exploit a bauxite deposit. The project will curb dependence on the country?s slumping oil reserves and create thousands of new jobs and infrastructure development. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Ntaryike Divine, Jr.
Experts say world demand forbauxite will surge by 2011. They anticipate by then the currentfinancial crisis will have eased and expect increased activity inhousing construction and the manufacturing of automobiles and aircraft.All of those sectors require bauxite, the main raw materialused to produce aluminum. A consortium called CameroonAlumina Ltd will carry out the venture. It is led by an American miningcompany, Hydromine, and includes Dubai Aluminum from the United ArabEmirates and India?s largest smelter and bauxite mining company,HINDALCO. They will spend six billion U.S. dollars over the next 18 months. Thefigure includes an environmental impact study. Peter Briger, chairmanand CEO of Hydromine, says getting the project underway will requirethe creation of some 15,000 jobs, either directly or indirectly. He hasassured the Cameroon government that local labor will receivepreferential treatment in hiring. There are twolocations for the mining project, Ngaoundal and Minim Martip, some 600km north of Cameroon?s port city Douala. It will be designed tolast between 50 and 70 years. Experts estimate the area holds twobillion tons of bauxite, making it the sixth biggest bauxite reserveworldwide. When operations are underway, Cameroon Alumina Ltd plans toproduce between two and three million tons yearly from the two sites. Guineais currently ranked the world?s largest bauxite producer. It holds 30percent of global reserves and accounts for 94 percent of thecontinent?s total production. Bauxite is a mineral ore that is firsttransformed into alumina and then smelted to obtain aluminum, anindustrial metal used in the manufacture of roofing sheets, kitchenutensils, processed foods and drinks cans, aircraft and cars. Itwas first discovered in 1821 by a geologist at a ruined southeasternFrench medieval town, Les Baux, which gave its name to the mineral --Bauxite. Economists say worldwide demand will soar in twoyears. Aluminum, however, suffered its worst price slump at the LondonMetal Exchange this November. But economists say they expect a boom. Theproject will provide work in a country of 18 million people sufferingfrom 30 percent unemployment. Among the projects planned areinfrastructure, such as a railway linking the mining sites, ahydro-electricity dam and a seaport to ease exports of the product. Thegovernment says the railway link will open up remote parts of thecountry?s northern region and at the same time allow farmers access tomarkets. The dam will address energy deficit problems, while theenvisaged seaport will significantly decongest Cameroon?s lone port inDouala. The project will also build schools andhospitals as part of a corporate social responsibility agreement that?spart of the deal with the government. The government saysthe project is a major milestone aimed at boosting the country?s loweconomic growth. The government passed mining legislation in 2001granting investors incentives such as a five-year tax break and thefree transfer of capital out of the country. But poor infrastructure,red tape and corruption have stalled development. But atwo-year-old government campaign to attract investors to the sector nowseems to be paying off. In the last two years, some 63 mining permitshave been handed out, as the country seeks to curb dependence on oilproduction. That sector ? which had climaxed the 1980s ? is now indecline. Officials say Cameroon is teeming withreserves of other minerals like cobalt, nickel, uranium and iron ore.And major global mining companies like Sundance, Geovic and Rio TintoAlcan are planning further investments there. Nevertheless,the government has cut its 2009 economic growth forecast from 6.5 to 4percent following slumps in the world market prices for oil and metals.Officials hope for a recovery in the international economic situationand a return to past years, when soaring commodity prices attractedforeign investors.