The ballroom at Meliá Paris La Défense will host a different kind of negotiation this July. When Mining On Top Africa returns to Paris on 2-3 July, the conversations won’t just be about deal-making – they’ll be about re-writing the rules. African ministers, European financiers and mining executives are gathering at a moment when both sides need each other, but neither is willing to accept the old terms.
European investors spent much of last year watching their African mining portfolios navigate military governments, delayed elections and civil unrest. Meanwhile, African governments found themselves caught between urgent development needs and increasingly strict European sustainability requirements that seem designed in Brussels boardrooms rather than mining communities. The result is a sector where everyone wants to do business, but no one quite knows how.
Who Has the Power to Make This Work
The guest list at MOTA 2025 reads like a who’s who of people who actually control the money and set the rules. Guinea’s Mohamed Lamine Sy Savane, Minister Director of the Cabinet to the Prime Minister, will present his government’s administrative reforms – reforms that investors hope signal a move towards stability after years of military rule. Seydou Moussa Kone, Director General of SODEMI in Côte d’Ivoire, represents the kind of state-backed development approach that European investors are learning to work with rather than around.
From the financing side, institutions like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (BERD) and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) will have senior executives in the room. These aren’t courtesy attendees – they’re the people deciding which projects get funding and which get shelved. When Anass Joundy from BERD or Franklin Edochie from AFC speak about financing challenges, they’re talking about real money that’s either moving or staying put.
The presence of Michael Edem Akafia, President of Ghana’s Chamber of Mines and Vice-President of External Affairs at Goldfields, underscores how even established mining jurisdictions are having to make their case again. While Ghana maintained higher investor confidence through last year compared to neighbours like Guinea and the DRC, political risk assessments show the entire region facing elevated uncertainty.
What Everyone Wants From This Conversation
African governments need capital, infrastructure and market access – but they also need it to come with terms they can actually meet. The gap between European ESG requirements and African operational realities has become a practical barrier to investment. Guinea’s mining reforms under Savane’s leadership have focused on contract reviews and tax reductions specifically to boost investor confidence, but political instability continues to create uncertainty about long-term commitments.
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European investors, meanwhile, are dealing with their own regulatory pressures. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive introduced stringent ESG requirements starting last year that mining companies must comply with to access European markets and financing. The problem is that many African mining operations lack the infrastructure to meet these standards, creating what some analysts call a ‘compliance gap’ that risks sidelining African miners from critical capital access.
The tension is practical rather than philosophical. SODEMI’s Kone will present Côte d’Ivoire’s approach to local value addition, including the company’s ISO-accredited mineral laboratory and plans for gold refining capacity. This represents exactly the kind of local development that European investors want to support – but it requires financing mechanisms that can handle political risk while meeting ESG criteria.
The Pressure Points That Keep Deals From Happening
Political instability continues to dominate risk assessments. Guinea remains under military administration with no clear democratic transition timeline, despite Savane’s reform efforts. The DRC faces ongoing election complications and ethnic tensions. Even Ghana, with its reformist government actively courting foreign investment, still carries higher risk premiums than investors would prefer.
Grant Thornton research shows that mining disputes increased across Africa last year, reflecting elevated regulatory risks that directly impact investment decisions. European capital flows to African mining remained ‘cautious but active’ through 2024, with investors focusing on critical minerals like cobalt and copper but demanding higher returns to compensate for political uncertainty.
The ESG compliance challenge goes beyond reporting requirements. Green finance mechanisms like sustainability-linked loans require transparent, predictable project data that many African mining operations struggle to provide. The mismatch between Western-driven ESG expectations and African mining realities has created what Africa Business research calls a risk of ‘sidelining the continent’s mining sector from accessing critical capital’.
Concrete Moves and Real Discussions
Guinea’s administrative reforms under Savane focus on contract reviews, tax reductions and major project facilitation – particularly around the Simandou iron ore project expected to start production this year. These aren’t cosmetic changes but fundamental shifts in how the government approaches mining partnerships.
SODEMI’s strategy in Côte d’Ivoire illustrates the local value-addition approach that European partners want to see. The company’s upgraded mineral laboratory achieved ISO/IEC 17025:2025 accreditation in 2023, and Kone announced plans for gold and silver refining facilities to process metals locally before export. Last year, SODEMI discovered coltan deposits in the Issia department, positioning Côte d’Ivoire in the high-technology metals market that European manufacturers desperately need.
The conference’s finance panel will address practical questions about who is still lending and on what terms. African Development Bank experts called for new financial mechanisms last year to mitigate foreign exchange risk in African mining investments. Institutions like BERD and AFC are developing tools to hedge currency risks while maintaining affordable financing for sustainable projects.
The regulatory framework panel will tackle the central question: how can African mining legislation align with global ESG standards without creating impossible compliance burdens. Speakers include Stéphane Brabant from Trinity LLP and Andrea Vissol from Belgium’s development agency ENABEL, representing the legal and policy expertise needed to bridge regulatory gaps.
What Deals and Outcomes to Watch
No major new project announcements are expected at MOTA 2025, but the conference aims to establish frameworks for future partnerships. The focus will be on risk-mitigation mechanisms and partnership structures that can work for both sides.
Watch for announcements about green finance facilities specifically designed for African mining. The expansion of ESG-linked financial instruments in Africa for 2024-2025 includes sustainability bonds and concessional loans from institutions like AFC, but these require robust governance frameworks that many mining jurisdictions are still developing.
Partnership announcements between European technology providers and African state mining companies like SODEMI will signal progress on local capacity building. These deals often include equipment financing, technical training and joint venture exploration that address both European supply security needs and African development goals.
The Event’s Mission Statement
MOTA 2025 operates under the theme ‘S’unir pour la prospérité: maximiser les bénéfices des richesses géologiques de l’Afrique’ – uniting for prosperity to maximise benefits from Africa’s geological wealth. The conference agenda emphasises ‘coopération gagnant-gagnant’, ‘attirer les investissements’ and ‘assurer transparence’ as core objectives.
These aren’t just conference slogans – they reflect the practical challenges facing both African governments and European investors. Creating truly mutually beneficial cooperation requires new financial instruments, regulatory frameworks and partnership structures that neither side has fully figured out yet.
What Happens After the Handshakes
MOTA 2025 runs 2-3 July at Meliá Paris La Défense, with registration available through the official conference website. The two-day schedule includes country presentations, policy panels and financing workshops designed to address both immediate capital needs and longer-term regulatory alignment.
The conference comes at a moment when both African governments and European investors need to make decisions about their next moves. Political timelines in countries like Guinea create pressure for concrete progress on investment frameworks. European regulatory timelines around ESG compliance mean that partnership structures agreed this year will determine which African mining operations can access European markets and financing through this year and beyond.
The discussions at MOTA 2025 will focus on immediate concerns – capital availability, governance structures and deal terms – but with an eye on fundamental questions about how Africa and Europe can create mining partnerships that actually work for both sides. The people in the room have the power to make those partnerships happen, but they’re negotiating in an environment where the old assumptions no longer apply.
