Mr. Kitso Mokaila
Visitors to Electra Mining Botswana are expected to see a top line-up of industry speakers at the free-to-attend seminars taking place throughout the exhibition, which runs from 1-3 September at the Gaborone Fair Grounds in Gaborone.
Kabo Molimi, Client Relationship Manager at Rand Merchant Bank Botswana, will be discussing the topic ‘Raising Finance for Mining Projects in Botswana’. He will be looking at the availability of finance and sourcing new partners, the legal and regulatory considerations for foreign investors, key factors to look for in potential mining investment, and strategies for mitigating risk.
Onthusitse Harold Melaetsa, Chief Minerals Officer at the Botswana Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, will be sharing his outlook for the Botswana minerals market including driving economic diversification, overcoming challenges and looking at new opportunities. He will be providing insight and views around development for 2015 through to 2018, mineral development as a vehicle of economic diversification, key challenges facing the future development of Botswana’s mineral industry and the outlook for domestic and export demand.
The role of private investors in power infrastructure and setting up an attractive environment for Botswana to become a power hub will be one of the discussion points in the presentation given by Neeraj Saxena, Project Manager at Power Jindal Botswana. He will be talking about bridging the energy capacity through Botswana power sector development, looking at the electricity demand forecast 2015 to 2020, and exploring the current outlook for Botswana and whether Botswana can cater to Southern Africa’s appetite for power.
Johny Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, will be speaking about working towards infrastructure synergy across the SADC Region. He will touch on the progress and future prospects of establishing connectivity through Botswana and Namibia, establishing a progressive regulatory environment to enable synergy across borders and harmonising Southern Africa’s corridor networks.
Developing community engagement will be the focus of the presentation that will be given by Charles Siwawa, Chief Executive Officer at Botswana Chamber of Mines. He will be discussing the role of developing training centres for improving technical capacity and investing in human capital, how to synergise the national upliftment strategy by navigating the complexities between all stakeholders, and the forming of alliances with communities and the mining industry. He will also cover aspects of effective generation of income transforming natural resources and localising business and developing the right skills and culture.
Other speakers include Neil Fitt of the Transport Hub, Ministry of Transport and Communications; Dr. Andre Nel, OHS Group Manager, Group Strategic Services Liberty; Mark McKee, Partner at Armstrongs Attorneys; Tobias Cossen, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); and speakers from the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Department of Customs and Excise and Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC).
Visitors to Electra Mining Botswana will be able to view a wide range of products and services related to mining, industrial engineering and manufacturing, electrical engineering, power generation, materials handling, safety, health and environment, machines tools and construction, amongst others. It will be an opportunity to build valuable business connections, discover the latest in technology developments and find out about the latest new products, equipment and services.
“Visitors to Electra Mining Botswana will be able to engage with over 120 local and international exhibitors and experience live demonstrations of products and equipment whilst also benefiting from the free to attend seminars,” says Gary Corin, Managing Director at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, organisers of the show in partnership with local company, Soapbox Communications.
Leading exhibitors at Electra Mining Botswana include AC/DC Dynamics, Air Liquide Botswana, Aerzen Airgas, Beka Schreder, Becker Mining, BH Botswana, BMG, Bosch, Durma, Endress + Hauser, Filtration Africa, Franklin Electric, Jachris Hose and Couplings, Multotec, Schneider Electric, Seapro Botswana, Tubestone, Woodmead Group, Verder Pumps and Voltex, amongst many others.
“As an international mining, industrial, power generation and machine tools event we have received excellent support from the Botswana Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources and from the Botswana Chamber of Mines, both of whom fully endorse the show,” says Vuyiswa Mojela, Director, Soapbox Communications. “We are delighted that Vincent T. Seretse, the Minister of Trade and Industry, and Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, will be attending the show.”
