Dr Kojo Busia

Dr Kojo Busia, Chief of Natural Resources Management Section, Division of Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management at UNECA.

Dr. Busia is currently the Chief of Natural Resources Management Section, Division of Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 

Until recently, he served as the Coordinator of the African Mineral Development Centre, a Pan-African Center of Excellence charged with the implementation of the African Mining Vision, an African Union policy framework for sustainable mineral development.  Since 2013, he has led the AMDC in designing and implementing the Country Mining Visions (CMVs) in a number of African countries. Under his leadership, the AMDC has supported the AU member states in developing forward looking mineral policies in accordance with AMV principles of diversifying African economies through greater value addition of minerals. Collaborating with regional associations of national Chambers of Mines, an AMV Private Sector Compact was established as a partnership for policy dialogue between the AMDC and the industry at the annual Mining Ndaba since 2015. 

The AMDC is currently supporting Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Namibia to promote mineral linkages and beneficiation within and beyond the mineral sector through value addition and suppliers’ development.  He led the AMDC in concluding a study which led to the key recommendation of setting up a National Suppliers Development Programme (NSDP) in Ghana. In rolling out the NSDP, the AMDC will support Ghana to scale up domestic suppliers’ capacity, capabilities and competiveness.  The NSDP is a multi-stakeholder process, based on partnerships between government, the mining industry, suppliers and training institutions. The program has the potential of filling the gaps in the West Africa sub-regional mining supply chain.

Prior to heading the AMDC, Dr. Busia spent nearly a decade leading the United Nation Economic Commission on Africa’s support to the African Peer Review Mechanism for the African Union/NEPAD, helping the governance flagship program to gain traction and institutional support throughout Africa and globally. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in international development policy from Cornell University in the USA and is a frequent presenter on political economy of natural resources governance and management, private sector development in mining and institutional capacity building at major events in Africa and globally.