EXTRACTION AND FABRICATION
Miners balk at talking about adding value
When you see the comments by Pravin Gordhan at the recent Mining Indaba and by Rob Davies at the linked Investment Dialogue, one wonders whether all the companies gathered in Cape Town were sufficiently sensitive to what our policy makers are thinking. The finance minister said: "We are no longer in an environment where we can extract and export." That is, companies should ensure that they "add value" to their products. The trade and industry minister talked about the opportunities to extend and strengthen value chains through downstream manufacturing. I was unable to attend either event, but from various reports, these sentiments received little attention. That is par for the course. For about seven years, the Institute For African Alternatives has been exploring value chains in South African mining and across Africa, with a view to discussing how mining can play a larger role in our economies. Former president Thabo Mbeki was driven to say that none of the companies that spoke in ...
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