Thirty-two members of the Africa Initiative on Mining, Environment and Society (AIMES) have called on African governments to adopt alternative mining regime that will optimize the net benefit of mining, and also protect the sector from being used as channels for international crises, such as the commodity and credit collapses, which occurred in late 2008. It is therefore proposing a policy for adoption by African governments, mining companies, bilateral and multilateral institutions and the international community of nations. Among many other policies discussed at the meeting, was an adoption of a new conception of investment that prioritizes a balance between Small-scale artisanal and Large-scale mining. Others included an urgent need for the development of frameworks and mechanisms for determining the volume of production and prices of strategic commodities, and the critical look at regional integration at both the political and economic levels in the context of Pan-Africanism. Other policies discussed at the meeting were the review of the current institutional arrangement for mining in Africa, which tends to serve the primary interest of transnational mining companies, and for effective mechanisms for participatory monitoring, and the evaluation of performance of the mining sector. This was the outcome of a three-day meeting held in Nairobi and Kenya, and was sponsored by Third World Network Africa. The Eleventh Annual Strategy meeting included participants from Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and other partners from Canada and the United Kingdom. The objective of the meeting was to build the capacity of the members of AIMES in order for them to appreciate the impact of the global economic crises, and its implication for advocacy and the reform agenda. The meeting also reflected on how the economic recession will influence the draft model of the mining regime, which was developed last year. On other ongoing policy reforms, it argued that the numerous extractive sector policy initiatives are an affirmation of the failure of current policies in catalysing the transformative role of mining in the growth and development of countries in Africa. The meeting also called for collaborative efforts by communities affected by mining, African Civil Societies and International partners to end mineral resource plunder in Africa. Source: Daily Guide/Ghana