During the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Canada announced significant projects, including Process Research Ortech’s (PRO) mining project in Botswana with investment partners, valued at CAD $129 million (USD $100 million), as announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) will be signed by Process Research Ortech (PRO) and the Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) to bring partners together to invest in a copper and nickel mine in Botswana that will be used to extract and refine the minerals used in the creation of batteries.
According to the Government of Canada, this investment will help Canada maintain its position as a global leader in the field of critical minerals by ensuring that eminent Canadian businesses, like PRO, collaborate with cutting-edge research organizations to build and secure supply chains for these minerals.
This will help to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy and support advanced manufacturing and technology.
According to Jacques NdoutouMvé, vice president of business development at Process Research Ortech, “This project demonstrates Canada is the partner of choice for local beneficiation, skills development, and job creation across Africa and in Canada, within the context of deeper intra-Africa trade to which Canada has been committed.”
“In my role as Vice President (Africa) of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business, I am pleased to see this outcome of our 2019 conference in Botswana that PRO supported and that brought leaders and decision-makers together in large part because of Global Affairs Canada and our headline sponsor Hatch,” said the vice president.
The Following Phase of Investment Facilitation
NdoutouMvé has combined all of his diverse project interests into a single organization.
According to him, the Toronto-based company will keep completing projects, in part through converting relationships made at events into the actual completion of projects and investment.
“I am happy that The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business is the leading venue for fostering intercultural understanding.
It is up to us in the business community to take advantage of the platform and make deals out of the significant connections that Canada’s top chamber for African markets has facilitated.
121 Canada is committed to advising on deals between Canada and Africa, including creating private equity funds specifically for the African continent (with both country and sector-specific focus areas).
The first fund was established in Cape Town last year with Canadian investors in mind and had a Pan-African orientation.
With an expo booth, presence at the biggest African mining event in North America, and a Ministerial luncheon for investors in the center of Toronto’s financial district, 121 Canada made it possible for the Republic of Gabon to participate in PDAC this month.
121 Canada is a proud member and supporter of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business, and I encourage other organizations to benefit from the group’s 28-year history as a not-for-profit supported by its members and sponsors.