Amira Global is celebrating its Members, new and old. Today we shine the spotlight on Managem.
What would you like the Amira community to know about your business?
Managem Group is a Pan-African mining operator with a balanced portfolio of assets and metals. The group provides natural resources of strategic importance for the global economy and contributes to meeting the worldwide demand for raw materials driven by an international market that is expanding fast technologically and economically.
The group is majority-held by Al Mada, a Pan-African private equity fund. The name “Al Mada” is accompanied by the tag-line “Positive impact”, reflecting the fund’s commitment to promote “useful” and “positive” investments.
With over 90 years of history of operating a diversified metals portfolio; the group is present across the complete mining business cycle from exploration to commodity sales. Owning an exploration licenses portfolio of 46,000 km2 in highly prospective and underexplored provinces/areas, Managem Group is exploring and producing attractive commodities including precious metals, base metals and metals that are essential for clean energy production such as cobalt and copper.
The Group employs over 6000 people and continues to expand with a presence in eight African countries in addition to its home in Morocco. With 15 mines in operation in four African countries and capital mining projects initiated throughout the continent, Managem Group continues to develop its diversified, balanced and high growth potential portfolio.
Since its creation, the group has grown thanks to the development of large-scale deposits through a targeted exploration policy and proven expertise in R&D, engineering, exploitation and processing.
With the aim of meeting the growing needs of players in industry and technology as well as opportunities of the needs of the global economy in strategic commodities, Managem Group is committed to a growth strategy in Africa and to a policy to strengthen its investments in high-potential projects on the continent.
Convinced of the need for its activities to be sustainable, Managem Group has forged its status as a responsible company that cares about its economic, social and environmental footprint. This vocation is supported by a CSR charter and a Safety charter commensurate with its activities, both nationally and continentally.
Managem Group is committed to making, its contribution to the development of the continent, while meeting the highest safety, environmental and technology standards in its creation of shared wealth.
Through its culture, values, CSR policy and approach, and its responsible operations developed declined on all its operations and subsidiaries, Managem group, contributes annually in collaboration with institutional partners to reduce disparities between rural and urban areas. The Group aims at supporting the professionalism of artisanal mining sites, safeguarding children’s rights to zero child labor, and contributing to mining local and regional positive impact.
What is the problem that, if solved, would make the biggest difference in our industry?
For Managem, in summary, it is significantly improving the energy mix trough recycling actions to save water resources.
Managem Group adopts a policy of water resources preservation, through the optimization of its consumption and recycling and the promotion of the use of unconventional water in operations.
As a shared vital resource, between populations and economic operators, the water consumption is to be optimized, by the different stakeholders. Aware of the predominant role of this resource, particularly in mining areas, the preservation of water resources is at the heart of the Group’s environmental commitment. With this orientation, the Group has put in place guidelines, adapted to its operations, through individualized policies adapted to their respective contexts, to rationalize the use of water and optimize its recycling, for mining and industrial activities necessary for the extraction and processing of minerals.
Since the launch of these local policies, they have been translated into annual targets and indicators of water consumption are regularly monitored. This approach, in addition to monitoring performance, allows early identification of anomalies and the implementation of actions to remedy them.
To this end, the site’s Quality and Environment Managers ensure compliance with the general guidelines, particularly the respect of the dimensions provided for water withdrawals and consumption, and their correspondence to the quantities of materials extracted and treated.
In 2021 Mangem Group successfully recycled 65% of used water vs 62% and 60% in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
What do you think are the greatest challenges to successful collaboration and how can they be overcome?
The greatest challenges are to find business partners in correlation with the values, principles and guidelines you follow and promote. In fact, you can be confronted to a great business partner, matching every technical aspect of the requirements specification but yet, not aligned with the company’s ethical policy.
These challenges can be overcome by trying to cultivate a transparent and communicative relationship between the company and its business partners, and to agree on addressing every disagreement and issue within the mutual respect of the company’s engagements.
Innovation has its origins in addressing challenges and leveraging R&D – what are your success stories?
Because innovation generates the business and professions of tomorrow, we consider Research & Development to be the engine behind excellence and future success. Our engineers, our geologists and our operations teams work closely with our researchers, to innovate and develop industrial processes of use for our activities, for creating value and for optimizing our investments.
Managem Group recorded a major invention in the field of batteries: a lithium-ion type battery. In 2010 and in 2018, the group filed two patents for this invention.
Used in mobile telephones and in personal computers, this innovation could also be adopted by the electric car industry.
This invention offers excellent microstructure properties and better electrochemical performance than a traditional battery, in terms of safety and discharge capacity. The electrochemical performance and the safety aspect of LiCoO2 lithium oxide and cobalt are improved by supplying materials usable in the manufacture of the active cathodes of rechargeable batteries.
The originality of our invention lies in the production of a particular composition for the battery cathodes, which can operate at high voltages (4.5 V) while offering a high level of thermal stability able to meet the safety requirements of electrochemical generation for stationary and/or mobile applications.
From whom do you draw your greatest inspiration?
Managem Group draws its greatest inspiration from the Group Al Mada. The holding aim is to contribute to the dynamic of South-South cooperation through impacting investments on a pan-African scale.
The group Al Mada also strives to make a positive impact on the environmental level by participating in the development of clean energies and in particular by supporting the energy transition, while also paying special attention to the environmental impact of our activities.
For the group development is “positive” if it is ecologically but also socially sustainable.
