The Africanisation of executives has started, English-speaking groups continue in their dominance, as more and more entrepreneurs from the continent invest in some of Africa's most promising sectors. But while they are yet to launch their own projects, they are acceding key executive positions.
"In the mining industry, only very few African entrepreneurs have launched our own companies", Congolese Kalaa Mpinga, CEO of Mwana Africa laments. "While mineral resource remain the main source of wealth for some countries, there are almost no private African mining companies, except for those in Morocco or South Africa."
His company, Mwana Africa was founded in 2003 and makes close to US$41 million from gold and nickel in both southern Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Even though the English-speaking mining sector counts a few large contractors, such as Ghanaian Sam Jonah, the charismatic CEO of Ashanti Goldfields- which merged with Anglo Gold in 2004, or South Africa's Patrice Motsepe, chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, entrepreneurs of this calibre are rare.
But things could change, with the Africanisation of industry executives, a movement that was launched in the wake of the South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment programme that seeks to strengthen the corporate weight of blacks.
"I am witnessing more and more Africans getting involved in the management of large-scale projects.
It is undeniable that there is a rise in the number of local decision makers", says Thierry Lauriol, a lawyer in charge of mining related issues at Jeantet.
"In-house" training.
"When I started working at South African Randgold Resources, I was one of the first natives to become country director, of Mali. Today, all the holders of this title are African", says Senegalese Aziz Sy, vice president of the Canadian company, Oromin Explorations, in Senegal.
"The emergence of African professionals is in the interest of big companies, because they are conversant with the sector as well as the inner workings of the administration.
Also they are more cost effective!" says Aziz Sy, who was trained at L'Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Dakar (Institute of Earth Sciences, Dakar).
According to Igor Rochette who specialises in mining sector recruitments at Michael Page, "some of the major players, such as Vale, BHP, Billiton or Rio Tinto, often prefer African senior managers, even if it means being less demanding on skills and having to provide them with "in-house" training.
They also ensure a certain level of mobility within the group, by virtue of field missions at other branches, to fine tune their technical capabilities", he says.
"In 2009, Vale had only six African directors at management level for the southern African region and not a single African CEO.
Today there are two CEOs and 13 top executives in the Mozambican sector ", said Mabasso Amado, general manager in charge of support activities for the Brazilian group in Maputo.
Amado is awaiting a training program at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
But in spite of the "Africanisation" of management among multi-nationals the emergence of local companies has a long way to go yet.
"Foreign companies will continue dominating the mining sector since they have the investment capacity and technical know-how.
Africans are often proactive in obtaining licenses, but they are quick to seek partnerships afterwards.
It will take some time before we start seeing African entrepreneurs dominating the extraction sector in the continent", Lauriol said.
"I wanted to create my own company, but I lacked the know-how to raise capital", says Aziz Sy, vice president of Oromin.
"Unfortunately, African mining entrepreneurs often take risks without really knowing the basics of the profession. Some license holders, unknowing of the real value of their permits, are cheated by foreign junior executives.
Licenses are exchanged for meagre sums without any sound estimation of their real value", reveals Boubacar Bocoum, World Bank executive in charge of the mining sector.
"What is worse is that some deposits, however promising they might be, remain unexploited because license holders lack the necessary network or credibility in the domain", says Bocoum.
According to him "improving the mining sector in Francophone Africa is a matter of urgency".
In line with the reputation of South African and Ghanaian universities, which have all expanded, there is the need for internationally recognised schools of higher learning.
There should be fewer but more efficient schools. "And these should not only be prominent in geology and engineering, but also and especially in finance.
"With my experience at Randgold Resources, Lonmin and Oromin Explorations, I got the urge to create my own company too," Aziz Sy indicates.
"In Senegal, it is relatively easy for nationals to obtain licenses. But to make it all the way through, I lack the skills or a partner to raise capital. It should be noted that tens of millions of dollars are needed to launch a project in the gold industry."
To succeed, Africans often lack the necessary capacity to network with international major players who invest in Toronto, London, Sydney, and rarely Johannesburg.
"If I hadn't moved up the ladder in South Africa, within Anglo American, where I became the youngest director at 36 years of age and where I got the chance to manage strategic deposits, I would never have grabbed the opportunity," said Kalaa Mpinga, who trained at the McGill University in Montreal.
"When I started Mwana Africa, I was able to raise US$5 million from six major investors from Angola, Zimbabwe, and Zambia before registering on the London Stock Exchange. Without my references I would never have obtained the trust, at least not in matters concerning finance."
Is this elevation of African managers an emerging trend? "Afraid of taking risks, most managers prefer to pursue careers within larger groups, but there is a number of local pioneers from French-speaking Sub-Saharan African countries who know the sector well and who go beyond just buying and selling licenses", Boubacar Bocoum admits.
He believes that persons like "Kalaa Mpinga or the Congolese, Richard Ondoko make attitudes evolve with their projects".
Boubacar Bocoum argues that the Africanisation of CEOs on the continent will necessarily follow the Africanisation of managers, although this will take time.
The only way to speed the process of buttressing entrepreneurial leadership on the continent is strong political support from African states.
"I don't know a single bank in Africa that finances mining projects. Financing always comes from the outside", Mpinga affirms.
"To avoid this foreign control, governments should not be afraid to inject local capital into these companies. They should also facilitate the control of these companies for African investors".
This is something that has been done in Senegal, DRC and Guinea, where mining laws have recently been amended in this direction.
What lacks now are competent African managers, who are now better trained and stand to benefit from local legislation, to cease the opportunities.
