High Commissioner’s end of year message

December 2011

Very good progress has continued with Australia’s engagement in the West Africa region. A key component of this is the expansion of Australia’s development assistance program including in relation to scholarships, mining collaboration and public sector reform.

We were pleased to conduct bilateral programs to the Republics of Niger and Benin in November, in concert with our regional AusAID coordinator, Sarah Willis and colleagues from the High Commission. Other useful visits included my return to Australia to attend the Africa Mining Downunder Conference in Perth in early September (with participation by the Nigerian and Niger Ministers for Mining), and the attendance by a number of Australian High Commissioners from Africa at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth in October (strong and active delegations were present from Nigeria, Cameroon and The Gambia).

Bilateral visits to Australia took on a new dimension with the visit of the Nigerian Minister for Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, to Perth in September, and the Guest of Government visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Australia, along with four other key Nigerian Ministers, to Australia prior to CHOGM.

Good progress has been maintained with Australian mining projects in Cameroon and Congo (Sundance), Gabon (BHP), and Middle Island Resources and Cape Lambert (Niger). We are working closely with all the countries of our region to promote the “Mining for Development” Centre of Excellence and to offer training opportunities to government officials in the mining ministries.

We were delighted to confirm the appointment of an Honorary Consul in Lagos, and planning is underway for a trade delegation from Australia to Nigeria in early 2012 and a forthcoming Aboriginal Art Exhibition in Lagos in 2012. We have also welcomed a new member to our Australian High Commission team, Sandy Costagliola.

We wish you all a festive and safe end of year period, and look forward to increasing our engagement with West Africa across a range of exciting new areas in 2012.

With our best wishes
Ian McConville