PanAfGeo+ is a pan-African initiative supporting geological sciences and technologies. It is a flagship partnership between Africa and Europe in the field of geosciences, funded by the European Union (EU) and running for five years (2025–2029).
The project is financed by the EU’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and coordinated by France’s Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), in partnership with EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) and the Organisation of African Geological Services (OAGS).
PanAfGeo+ builds on previous initiatives, including PanAfGeo-1 and PanAfGeo-2 (2016–2024) and the AfricaMaVal project (2022–2025).
The project comprises two main components:
The launch brought together around one hundred participants, including representatives from across the PanAfGeo+ partnership.
Local partners were represented by a delegation from the Ministry of Mines, notably the National Geological Survey of Congo (SGN-C).
His Excellency Mr Louis Watum Kabamba, Minister of Mines, attended the launch of the PanAfGeo+ project on 17 March and that of the Country Window dedicated to the DRC on 19 March.
International participants included representatives from the target countries (South Africa, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), as well as partner institutions, notably the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (TNO), the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA), the Association of Women in Mining in Africa (AWIMA) and the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (FERDI).
The launch event comprised two days dedicated to the PanAfGeo+ project (17–18 March) and two days focusing on the DRC Country Window (19–20 March).
FERDI contributes to both the ‘Invest’ component of the PanAfGeo+ project (Contract 2) and the ‘Country Windows’ component in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The foundation will lead activities related to the legal, fiscal and ESG framework for investment. As part of the DRC Country Window, Ferdi will deliver six training sessions for the Ministry of Mines, including the National Geological Survey of Congo (SGN-C).
