Lusaka: The African Federation of Miners and Mineral Wealth (AFMMW) has resolved to embark on a membership recruitment drive to unite all mining unions in Africa to promote the rights of mineworkers and trade unions across Africa. The Federation commits to working with member unions to eliminate precarity in the world of work, promote occupational health and safety, and promote decent work both at the country level and across the continent of Africa.
According to Ghana News Agency, this was in a statement from the Federation's six-point declaration adopted at its second Executive Board Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The statement was jointly signed by Mr. Joseph Chewe, President of AFMMW, and Mohammed Ahmed Abdelhalim Ibrahim, the Secretary General of AFMMW, and issued to the Ghana News Agency.
The Federation, among others, resolved to incorporate an investment company, which would focus on identifying and growing mining assets across the continent of Africa and its members. This crucial decision was inspired by the fact that Africa is blessed with enormous natural resources but is regrettably the poorest continent.
The Federation also recognised that the African Mining Vision aligned with its aims and objects. To help achieve the vision, the Federation commits to forging strong, sustained partnerships and working collaboratively with African governments and regional bodies such as the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and others to ensure the full realisation of the benefits of the mineral wealth of Africa for the people.
'To sustain its vision, the Federation resolved to continuously strengthen the capacities and deepen solidarity among member unions of the Federation, through initiatives such as exchange programmes, as well as training and education,' it said.
The next meeting of the Federation is expected to be hosted by the Ghana Mineworkers' Union in Accra, Ghana. The third Executive Board meeting will see the Federation take far-reaching steps to concretise the key decisions of the second meeting held in Lusaka, Zambia.
The African Federation of Miners and Mineral Wealth was established on February 27, 2024, in Cairo, Egypt, as the sole umbrella and mouthpiece for the African workers in the mining and mineral sector. It is made up of all mining trade unions across Africa, including the Ghana Mineworkers' Union of the Trades Union Congress, Ghana.
