UNCTAD hosting OILGASMINE Conference and Exhibition in Sudan

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is hosting the 17th annual OILGASMINE Conference and Exhibition this week in Khartoum, Sudan, running through Thursday.

The conference is focusing on the African oil, gas and mining extraction sector's potential to contribute to the continent's economic growth and job creation.

Africa's extractive industries are an untapped resource, with 8 percent of the world's oil and gas reserves in Africa and only 1 percent of Africa's workforce employed in oil, gas and mining industries. The continent has active mines containing such metals and minerals as bauxite, chromite, cobalt, ilmenite, industrial diamond, manganese, phosphate rock, platinum-group metals, rutile, soda ash, vermiculite and zirconium.

Maximizing these resources could boost not only revenues for many African nations, but also could lead to widespread growth across all economic classes.

Every year in Africa, 12 million people enter the workforce to compete for only 5 million jobs. A study conducted by the International Finance Corp. found that the creation of one mining job in Ghana could lead to the creation of 27 more jobs.

Details about the conference are online at www.unctad.org/en/Pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=855.