African mineworkers form continental federation to promote welfare

Konrad Kodjo DJAISI

In furtherance of various meetings held in Egypt toward the formation of the African Federation of Mines and Mineral Wealth, a high-powered delegation from the General Trade Union of mines, quarries (Building Materials), Salinas and Energy Workers of Egypt (GTUMQSEW) paid a working visit to the General Secretary of the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) at the TUC headquarters in Accra  last week.

The delegation from GTUMQSEW of Egypt was made up of Mr. Nageh Gomaa Hassan Eissa, General Secretary; Kamel Mohamed Fawzy Sherif Khedr, Executive Member; Ashraf Shehata Mohamed Abouzeid, Executive Member; and Farouk Mohamed Mohamed Ali Elnaggar, Executive Member to advance the course of the newly founded federation from the 25th to 30th September, 2024.

Receiving the delegation together with GMWU executives in his office, Mr. Abdul-Moomin Gbana, General Secretary – GMWU, noted that the formation of the federation was necessitated by the fact that Africa’s mineral wealth was being exploited by foreigners to the detriment of Africans as well as African miners.

To address this problem, African mining unions have agreed to join forces to unite for their common good and welfare. Currently, the federation’s headquarters is based in Cairo, Egypt; with the General Secretary from Egypt and Abdul-Moomin nominated as Deputy General Secretary of the federation.

Mr. Abdul-Moomin expressed the hope that by the next decade, the narrative should have changed; where the global West continues to exploit the resources of the global South. That is why the federation was formed, principally to advance South-South cooperation and promote their interests.

He said the Egyptian union is interested in collaboration; so as part of the visit, they will visit manganese sites in order to strike beneficial deals since there are large deposits in Ghana.

To this end, the Egyptian delegation expressed interest in forming joint venture investment companies and this can be done by supplying others with their mineral requirements. They expressed the hope that through such collaboration, mineworkers across the continent will be better served and supported so that Africans can truly benefit from their resources.

Exploiting African resources in their raw form doesn’t enable the continent to benefit properly from its endowments; therefore, the federation seeks to employ value addition to raw materials as one of its primary objectives.

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