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West Africa’s largest mining event: a record participation with tangible results

SIM Senegal 2025, the 8th Senegal International Mining Conference and Exhibition took place from 4 – 6 November 2025 in Dakar, Senegal 2025. West Africa’s largest mining trade industry event featured over four thousand participants, one hundred and seventy exhibitors emanating from over thirty countries.

SIM Senegal featured more than seventy-five speakers who discussed issues on related economic sovereignty and the sharing of various experiences in the development and governance of mineral resources as well as on human capital.

The opening ceremony brought together Mr. Birame Souleye Diop, Minister of Energy, Petroleum and Mines of Senegal; Mr. Malam Sambu, Minister of Natural Resources of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau; Mr. Nani Juwara, Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Mines of the Republic of The Gambia; and Mr. Adama Soro, President of the Federation of Chambers of Mines of West Africa. It was honoured by the presence of His Excellency Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal.

The following sessions were then held successively:

  • A high-level panel on mineral resources as a lever for economic sovereignty, led by ministers from five (5) different countries, to harmonize their positions on this issue;
  • Development of mineral resource value chains: challenges, constraints, and opportunities for the industrialization of Africa, aiming to make local content a strategic lever for the structural transformation of the economy.
  • Local processing of mineral resources to reduce dependence on imports of finished products and encourage joint ventures and technology transfer with international partners;
  • What policies and strategies should be implemented to strengthen upstream and downstream links between the mining sector and other productive sectors of the economy, with a view to creating sustainable synergies between the mining industry and other African economic sectors (agriculture, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure).
  • Development Minerals: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities for Building Integrated and Resilient Value Chains to Stimulate Inclusive Growth and Strengthen Economic Resilience through the Exploitation of Development Minerals’ Potential.
  • Initiatives by African Geological Surveys for Economic Sovereignty over Mineral Resources;
  • The Role of National Companies and the National Private Sector in Mineral Resource Development;
  • Towards Responsible Mining, Requiring Good Governance, Approaches to Restoring and Rehabilitating Mining Sites, and an Inclusive and Collaborative Approach
  • Towards Responsible Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, with a View to Transforming Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) into a Lever for Sustainable Development in Africa
  • Human Capital, Research, and Innovation, through the Presentation of Startups from the Min’Ovation 2025 Hackathon.

In conjunction with the Exhibition, six (6) major events took place:

  • CMDS CONNECT, organized by the Chamber of Mines of Senegal, on the theme “Socio-economic and environmental impacts of mining, oil and gas activities on host communities”;
  • ERAMET Grande Côte, on the theme “Responsible Mining”: discussions focused on best practices for community dialogue, land rehabilitation and restitution (100 hectares were returned to the State), water resource management, and carbon footprint reduction.
  • The 4th edition of the Min’Ovation 2025 Hackathon, themed “Digital Technology and Artificial Intelligence: Innovative Solutions for the Sustainable Management of Mineral and Energy Resources.” Launched in 2018 as a companion event to the trade show, the Hackathon continues to distinguish itself through the relevance of its projects and the participants’ interest in digital technologies.
  • The second edition of the International Congress on Geodiversity, Geoheritage, Geotourism, Geoeducation, Geoparks, and the Sustainable Development Goals (5G & SDGs), held in collaboration with the African Association of Women in Geosciences (AAWG), was held under the theme “Geoheritage in the Service of Peace and Sustainable Development: Connecting Cultures, Empowering Communities, and Preserving the Heritage of Our Planet.” 
  • The holding of the recruitment forum, sponsored by SOMISEN SA and organised in collaboration with the Amicale des Ingénieurs Géologues Diplômés de l’ENSMG (ex-IST) (ADEMIG), marked by the offer of 188 positions of various qualifications offered by 16 companies (managers and engineers, technicians and supervisors, trainees, as well as administrative and support profiles).
  • A workshop hosted by the Canadian Embassy highlighted Canadian expertise in corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as in technical and vocational training within the extractive sector. 

The opportunities discussed at SIM Senegal to develop the country’s and the region’s mining sector include:

  • The development of the concept of economic sovereignty, with the emergence of state-owned enterprises directly involved in mining operations, increased added value for the local economy, and control by local sovereign wealth funds;
  • Efforts to harmonize mining regulations
  • The strong commitment of states to local processing of substances, as outlined in the African Mining Vision
  • The possibility of developing research themes at the University of Thiès on eco-materials
  • The geophysics and mapping projects of the SGNS (National Geological Survey of Senegal), which should provide a solution for harnessing the potential of these materials
  • The availability, in the African sub-region, of strong geological services, which can support others through the African Geological Services Organization (AGSO)