Lagos, Nigeria, 15-16 December 2015- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in collaboration with the Nigeria APRM National Steering Committee, organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) from 15 to 16 December 2015 to discuss Mainstreaming the Governance of the Extractive Sectors in the APRM and to validate a study prepared on this subject. The meeting included experts on the extractive sectors from across Africa including academic institutions and think tanks, the continental APRM Secretariat and APRM national structures including Chad, Djibouti, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. Meeting participants also exchanged experiences on mineral governance with counterparts from Botswana, Chile and Australia, countries with advanced track records in mineral governance.

Meeting participants stated that APRM Country Reviews have underlined challenges and best practices in mineral governance. In future, a major outcome from the meeting will be strengthened collaborative efforts between the APRM and the body tasked with implementing the African Mining Vision, the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), who will help to provide practical guidance to the APRM on mineral governance as it undertakes future APRM’s Country Review Missions. Meeting participants agreed that, as a continental governance monitoring tool, the APRM can be an invaluable instrument for tracking progress on implementing recommendations from the African Mining Vision at the national and continental level.