AMDC Host East Africa Launch of Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC)

The African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) has hosted the East Africa launch of the Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), a standardized code for public reporting of minerals and energy resources to ensure compliance with relevant financial and security regulations across Africa.

The launch took place on the sidelines of the AMDC’s East African stakeholders sensitization workshop held April 4-5 in Kampala, Uganda, whose specific objectives were to sensitize the East African stakeholders involved in the mineral value chain about the African Mineral and Energy Resources Classification and Management System (AMREC) and the Pan-African Reserves and Resources Reporting Code (PARC) as tools for the implementation of the African Mining Vision (AMV).

AMDC is the African Union body responsible for the implementation of the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) and its Action Plan. Adopted in 2009, the AMV promotes transparent, equitable, and optimal utilization of Africa’s mineral resources to support broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development. At the heart of the AMV is the harmonization of strategies, policies, instruments and practices for the greater participation of African countries in regional and global value chains.

Similarly, the AMV’s Action Plan aims to improve geological and mineral information systems to support investment in exploration and mineral development. Central to the AMV’s Action Plan is the enhancement of geological and mineral information systems, facilitated by tools such as the African Mineral and Energy Resources Classification and Management System (AMREC) and the Pan-African Reserves and Resources Reporting Code (PARC). 

Thus, the AU believes the implementation of AMREC and PARC will streamline resource estimation and classification throughout Africa as well as help establish a unified stock exchange and financial reporting framework, fostering responsible investments across the regional and global value chains of mineral resources. Subsequently, this will enable the mineral resource sector to play a crucial role in the continent’s socioeconomic transformation.

In her opening remarks, Dr Marit Kitaw, Interim Director of AMDC, described the African Minerals and Energy Classification and Management System (AMREC) and Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC) as two critical implementation tools for the realization of Africa Mining Vision (AMV), which she labelled as a blueprint aimed at “resolving the paradox of mineral wealth existing side by side of pervasive poverty in mineral rich African countries.” 

Dr Kitaw further said AMREC would be a game-changer and ensure “resources are properly estimated and classified in a harmonized way across Africa”, while PARC as a complementary tool of AMREC will “facilitate transparent reporting of mineral projects (estimates, potentially viable, and viable) and energy projects as well as attract quality investments for the continent along the regional and global value chains.”

“It is important to state at this point that the African Mineral and Energy Resources Classification and Management System (AMREC) and Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), which were adopted by the African Union in September 2021, are now ready for continental deployment. Following the successful completion of the PARC Code in October 2023, the AMREC/PARC entered implementation stage which begins with these stakeholders’ sensitization workshops to be held across the five regions of Africa,” the AMDC director noted.

In her remarks at the sensitization workshop, Ms Irene Bateebe, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development of Uganda, said the renewed scramble for Africa’s critical minerals calls on AU Member States to align their mineral policies with the AMV, as a means to ensure sustainable development of these critical minerals.

To this end, Ms Bateebe said Uganda has established a robust legal and regulatory framework for its minerals sector which provides a firm foundation for private sector investment in the country, with the Mining and Minerals Policy for Uganda (2018) and the Mining and Minerals Act (2022) as well as the Mining and Mineral [Licensing] Regulations (2023) being the primary policies governing the operation of the country’s mining and mineral sectors. 

“In terms of value addition for industrialization, we do not allow the export of unprocessed mineral ores and with regard to mineral certification, the Government of Uganda is implementing the International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Regional Certification Mechanism to fight Against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources (RINR) just as in terms of building value chains, we are linking mining to industry and electrification.” 

As a result, Ms Bateebe said they were planning to make copper products produced in the country’s Kilembe Mines to serve as raw materials for Uganda’s electricity infrastructure projects and electric vehicle industry.

“With regard to national content, we are required to recruit, train, and promote Ugandan citizens and give priority to goods and services sourced in Uganda and the East African
region. In terms of state participation in efforts towards increased revenues and national content, we are establishing a National Mining Company which will manage the state’s equity and share in production in a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement for large-scale projects,” the permanent secretary stated.

Ms Bateebe further noted that the harmonization of strategies, policies, instruments and practices in African countries will lead to better management and benefits accruing from the continent’s mineral and energy resources, adding that the government of Uganda has developed a strategy of developing minerals and energy reserves to attract meaningful investment across the whole value chain.

“I know that the adoption and implementation of AMREC/PARC may pose some challenges and reservations. I therefore wish to call upon you to undertake rigorous training and awareness within the industry and the private sector etc. Lastly, we pledge our commitment to work together on the continent to address issues limiting the exploration of our natural resources such as capacity building, revenue maximization and infrastructure development,” she concluded.

The AMDC’s East Africa Regional AMREC/PARC implementation and public sensitization workshop had in attendance participants from Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the East African Community (EAC), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf), Organization of African Geological Surveys (OAGS) as well as Association of Chamber of Mines and other Mining Associations in Africa (ACMMAA), among others.