(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 29, 2006 ) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mali will promote its new investment code for the oil and gas sector during the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA)’s upcoming Africa Oil & Gas Forum from November 29 to December 1, 2006, at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel on 5151 Pooks Hill Road in Bethesda, MD. The Minister of Mines, Energy and Water, H.E Hamed Diane Semega and the Minister of Investments, H.E Ousmane Thiam, will introduce a preferential customs and tax system designed to attract national and foreign capital in production activities and services during a Mali-focused workshop entitled “Investing in Mali Oil & Gas Potential” on Thursday, November 30, 2006 from 2:30 pm-3:30 pm.

“The political will of the government is manifested in the new investment code,” said the Ambassador of Mali to the United States, His Excellency Abdoulaye Diop. The Ambassador also emphasized that the favorable petroleum investment code will “offer the guarantees required for investment security.”

Joining the Malian ministers on Thursday’s panel are also Mamadou Simpara, the General Director of the Authority for Petroleum Exploration Promotion (AUREP) and Max De Vietri, the General Director of Baraka Petroleum Ltd. The session will be moderated by Mr. J. Joseph Grandmaison, Board Member of the Export-Import Bank of the United States

The panelists will discuss the exploration potential of sedimentary basins that comprise the landscape of Mali. Data from a recently completed aeromagnetic and radiometric airborne survey covering an area in Mali of 193,200 km2 shows that there are substantial basement and intra-sediment information visible throughout much of the area. As a result, companies from across the world are already in the exploration stage.

“I invite you to join them because there are additional basins available for exploration. We are open for business,” the Ambassador said.

The Mali workshop is part of a two and a half day conference designed to facilitate dialogue between African suppliers, U.S. energy companies, and government representatives. The Mali workshop will be a case study and the only country-specific workshop at the conference.

“Investors ready for new challenges in a resource rich, and largely untapped oil and gas sectors, are welcome to share our enthusiasm and our desire to develop our resources and to create employment and wealth for our people,” the Ambassador added.

The 2006 Africa Oil & Gas Forum will focus on the changing realities of the oil market in Africa.

CCA, established in 1993, is a nonpartisan 501(3) (c) membership organization of nearly 200 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening the commercial relationship between the United States and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. Visit CCA on the web at www.africacncl.org


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Ilda Diffley
The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA)
Tel: (202) 263-3522
Email: idiffley@africacncl.org

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