The EU-AU Joint Session on Infrastructure for the Minerals Sector took place on the 19th and 20th of March 2015 within the framework of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and follows up from the 4th EU-Africa Summit.

The aim of this workshop was to discuss the infrastructure needs of the minerals sector in Africa and identify ways in which those can find support in the broader context of existing and planned infrastructure projects and networks. These include transport, ICT, water and energy as well as all other types of infrastructure necessary for the sector to play its transformative role.

The session provided a link between the joint work of the African and European Unions within the JAES on infrastructure and energy on the one hand and raw materials on the other to ensure coherence between the two. It also looked into existing support programs for infrastructure and industrial development in Africa such as the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) as well as the on-going regional programmes and Development Corridors across Africa. In this perspective, it looked for possibilities of benefitting the raw materials sector. The workshop allowed to map the needs of the different African countries in terms of infrastructure for the sector and explore innovative approaches to stimulate investment in the sector.

This Joint Session was organized in 8 panels, each consisting of 3 to 5 speakers from public sector, private sector or NGOs, who presented experiences, lessons learnt, case studies and policies.