African women-owned mining businesses are facing difficulties accessing international markets and investment due to poor business visibility, inadequate records and weak compliance systems.
Industry stakeholders disclosed this at a webinar organised under the Mansa Awareness Initiative, a collaboration between Women in Mining Africa and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
Executive Director, Women in Mining Africa, Comfort Asokoro-Ogaji, said businesses could no longer rely solely on having quality products and customers to attract investors and international buyers.
She said prospective partners increasingly needed verifiable information about business ownership, operations, financial capacity and compliance before committing resources.
Asokoro-Ogaji said the inability of many small African businesses to provide such information was limiting their access to financing and new markets.
She identified visibility, credibility and compliance as major challenges facing women-led enterprises in the mining sector.
The executive director also stressed the need for mineral traceability, particularly in the gold sector, as international markets increasingly demand information on the origin of minerals and adherence to environmental, social and governance standards.
She noted that women were already active in several areas of the mining value chain, including extraction, processing, trading, supply and cooperatives, but needed stronger business structures to translate their participation into greater market opportunities.
Also speaking, Vice President, Administration, AfCFTA Young Entrepreneurs Federation, Prof. Frederick Ndalamani Nonde, said the African Continental Free Trade Area offered a major opportunity for women and young entrepreneurs to expand their businesses across the continent.
Nonde said enterprises seeking to move beyond their local markets must demonstrate visibility, credibility and transparency to build trust with potential partners.
He said the Mansa Digital Initiative could help close the information gap by providing reliable data that investors, financial institutions and businesses need to assess African enterprises.
Presenting the platform, Business Development Associate, Anglophone West Africa Region, Mansa Digital Business, Ngoma Nwankwo, said Mansa provides structured information on African businesses, including ownership, registration, management and other corporate details.
She said the platform was designed to make business information easier to access and compare, thereby helping enterprises identify credible partners and facilitating intra-African trade.
The webinar formed part of a wider capacity-building programme aimed at equipping women in mining, young entrepreneurs and other businesses with the tools required to access finance, investment and regional and international markets.
