A joint government-World Bank three-day national mining forums kicks off today in Yaounde.

Cameroon’s huge mineral deposits will be under scrutiny for three days beginning today May 29. This is within the framework of a national mining forum jointly organised by the World Bank and the government of Cameroon that gets underway at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel this Tuesday.

The three-day forum (May 29-31) on the theme, “Stakes and Opportunities of Mining Development: The Challenge of Governance,” seeks to expose the country’s mineral potentials as well as seek ways of maximising them so that the potentials can be transformed into opportunities to catapult the economy to emergence by 2035.

Speaking to Cameroon Tribune yesterday, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Dr. Fuh Calistus Gentry, said the forum is a veritable opportunity for the country to sell its mineral potentials. “We want to let the world know the huge potentials of our country in terms of mining, the state of advancement of our mining projects as well as bring in investors who will take up new ventures in the unexplored territory,” he said.

The forum, he added, will offer an opportunity for local mining experts to share experience with their foreign peers and thereby learn from them. “There is a wide-range of experts from around the world who will interact with our experts so as to get them abreast with current mining trends in the world. This will also be an opportunity for companies which are advanced in their mining development to showcase their findings,” Dr Fuh Calistus noted.

Stands will be erected at the forum site for companies to exhibit their products. Several presentations are also expected from different participants, nationals and international guests through which they will share what the country can offer and learn from what is being done elsewhere. According to the programme, participants will dwell on topics like, “Developing a mining strategy,” “Value chain of extractive industries,” “Managing mining licences, attribution of permits and negotiation of mining contracts,” “The contribution of the mining sector to development,” and “Mining sector and the sharing of revenues,” “Transparency in the mining sector,” among others.