Opportunity Issue 97

MINING
Mining Indaba 2021
The Investing in African Mining Indaba went virtual in 2021. Global energy
transition and ESG were at the heart of the online conference.
At least twice a year, downtown Cape Town can feel a bit
like New York: when parliament opens and when the
Investing in African Mining Indaba comes to town. When
miners, investors and government officials come together to
share ideas, the buzz around the Cape Town International
Convention Centre is unmistakable. Cape Town missed out on that
kind of energy in 2021, but the Mining Indaba Virtual still managed
to attract impressive numbers. The first online event had:
• More than 3 600 unique
attendees
• 107 countries represented
• Three heads of state as
speakers
• Speakers from a wide range
of companies including Anglo
American, Rio Tinto, Exxaro
Resources, Sibanye-Stillwater
and many more
• 16 sponsors
• 26 media partners.
Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) and the global
energy transition were two of
the overarching themes of the
Indaba. As Tom Quinn, Investing in African Mining Indaba’s Head of
Content, put it, ESG principles and sustainability were “at the heart
of every single session”.
The responsibility of mining in the interests of the planet and the
people who live on it does not rest solely with mining companies. It’s
a duty shared by financiers and investors, and this is something that
came up in various ways during the conference. Heads of state spoke
in their contributions about the need for a “just transition” while
bankers outlined how investment decisions today involve much more
than looking at profit margins.
PROS AND CONS OF VIRTUAL CONFERENCING
Speaking of the past events held in Cape Town, Quinn says,
“Our community has huge brand loyalty because of the premium
event experience they receive, including engaging content,
thought-leadership discussions, unrivalled networking and
meeting opportunities, and for many mining operators, the
unique opportunity to meet with a high number of investors
in one place.”
For the 2021 event, a Virtual Investment Programme was
structured over the last two days of March, which connected
the global finance community with mining operators on a oneto-one
basis. The webinar series that ran in the months leading up
to the Mining Virtual Indaba served to keep regular participants
connected with topical industry insights.
Although there are downsides to not being able to meet in person
at conferences, an advantage was the reach of new audiences which
otherwise would not be able to travel to Cape Town.
Regarding the format adopted, Quinn noted, “We were very
conscious of ‘webinar fatigue’ given that almost all business events
in the past year have had to be conducted online and the virtual space
is saturated now with online content. The audience appreciated that
we kept the sessions to 60 minutes, focusing on key topics, rather
than trying to precisely re-create the Mining Indaba experience.”
A huge effort was made to ensure that the technical side of
things would run seamlessly. “We decided from the start to invest
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