Liberia Chamber of Mines Gets Regional Body Membership

Liberia Chamber of Mines President Amara Kamara, 3rd from right, at the ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines.

The Liberia Chamber of Mines has been admitted as a member of the ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM) as a means of fostering closer collaboration and alliance with other mining companies within the sub-region.

The decision follows a formal request by the President of the Liberia Chamber of Mines, Amara Kamara, on behalf of the organization, which the body granted unanimously at its annual congress in Accra, Ghana on June 2.

Liberia, like many West African countries, is a burgeoning global frontier for mining investments with the mining industry a significant contributor to socio-economic development — hence the need for a trade body that would harmonize and aggregate data to support the implementation of the African Mining Vision through its inherent value chains, and advocate for effective policies to promote mining in West Africa.

“The Liberia Chamber of Mines has recently been established as an apex body to work for the improvement of mining fortunes in that country and it has applied to be a part of the EFEDCOM – a request which is hereby granted.

“We resolve that the Liberia Chamber of Mines be admitted into membership of EFEDCOM; and the next meeting of the Federation will be hosted by the Liberia Chamber if it is in a position to host,” the regional body said in a resolution.

As a sub-regions organization, the Chamber is primarily established to promote a strong, sustainable mining industry that benefits all West Africans and supports continued prosperity across the continents.

The organization, according to the ECOWAS Commission, is indeed in the sub-region as the mining sector is important to the economies of ECOWAS members, and with the similarities in the challenges facing the industry in the sub-region – it was imperative that the chamber be established to advocate for the enactment of policies to promote mining across the sub-region.

The Liberia Chamber of Mines is a private sector association of companies and industry actors – aiming to offer a coordinated dialogue space amongst industry actors and with national regulators and other key stakeholders and local supply chain integration into Liberia's mining sector.

The Liberia Chamber’s admission comes a few weeks after attending, for the first time the African Mining conference in South Africa, which is a space for high-impact networking for the African mining industries and brings together the mining giants and policymakers to discuss issues relating to capitalization and the development of mining interests in Africa.

In its 27th year, the conference, also known as the Mining Indaba, has a unique and widening perspective of the African mining industry, bringing together visionaries and innovators from across the globe. 

The Liberia Chamber of Mines delegation was headed by its president, Amara Kamara, and Monique Cooper Liverpool, Executive Director of the chamber.