On the back of a record-breaking attendance at the Investing in African Mining Indaba in 2023, event organisers Hyve Group are anticipating more than 8 000 delegates from over 100 countries to attend this year’s event, set to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, from February 5 to 8.

“Our audience will include more than 900 investors and 1 200 mining company executives, as well as 100 senior government officials, 70 heads of State and ministerial delegations,” says Hyve Group Investing in African Mining Indaba project director Kathryn Barnard.

This year’s event aims to showcase the “thriving African mining industry” and its readiness for investment, making the Indaba a unique and significant event to attend.

She adds that the Indaba will also celebrate its thirtieth year of successful showcasing of the African mining market this year.

“Mining Indaba turns 30 in 2024 and this has given us, as organisers, a prime opportunity to elevate the Mining Indaba experience into a new direction with bigger and bolder conversations and content,” says Hyve Group global natural resources portfolio director Eve Harper.

The Investing in African Mining Indaba successfully brings all key stakeholders from across the mining industry together and, moving forward, the sector is going to derive greater value from this.

“Meaningful conversations and discussions that take place out of the public eye are also going to move into the public eye.”

Harper adds that the mining industry faces many challenges, which the Indaba plans to address head-on, “even if it makes some uncomfortable – by making people uncomfortable we have learned that solutions are always derived from this approach”.

Top Priority

This year’s conference will cover many mining trends, with a deeper focus on two of the trends driving the global market, says Hyve Group Investing in African Mining Indaba content head Laura Cornish.

She explains that one of the most topical trends is the role of the automotive and electronics sectors and the consequential increased interest in critical minerals.

The increase in interest stems from these industries looking to further develop and introduce new electric vehicles and modern electrical systems.

In this regard, Hyve Group is working, through the Investing in African Mining Indaba, with the automotive and electronic sectors to bring key stakeholders to the conference to engage in conversations about critical minerals, the security of supply chains, and perspectives on environment, social and governance compliance.

The second trend is youth and its role in building a new workforce generation in the mining sector.

“While we will host a Young Leaders Programme on February 8, our intention is to ensure [that] the youth have a larger presence throughout the week, offering more time and opportunity to engage with the industry and learn more through our programmes and on the show floor,” Cornish points out.

She says this will be the start of a bigger vision for youth that will soon be revealed for 2025 and beyond.

Tech, Future

From a technology perspective, Hyve Group has introduced “Tech in Action” sessions into its Technology & Innovation Hub programme.

“These 20-minute sessions will be used by select clients to showcase the impact of key technologies in a more meaningful way,” Cornish notes, adding that technology is a visual, auditory and observatory experience and it should stimulate these senses when delivering this new feature.

The programme sessions will deal with the event’s theme ‘Embracing the power of positive disruption: A bold new future for African mining’.

Cornish explains that the format of many of these discussions approaches a topic from a questioning stance that challenges an industry problem head-on.

“For example, the opening panel discussion ‘African exploration pipelines – why so empty’ highlights one of our industry’s greatest problems: the lack of exploration across the continent,” she says.

The session aims to unpack this problem in greater detail and, thereafter, explore what positive disruption is needed to change the situation.

Cornish explains that the theme for this year’s Indaba: ‘Positive Disruption’, not only focuses on the content but also how it is unpacked and delivered.

“This should be largely evidenced in the company presentations – now called ‘Voices of Disruption’ – and the moderator’s role during panel discussions, which will be to participate in the conversation and drive more meaningful responses,” Cornish concludes.