(Kitco News) - As the current Ebola virus continues to claim lives throughout West Africa, an executive with African-based
During an interview last month with Kitco News at the 25th Denver Gold Forum, in Denver, Colorado, Mark Bristow, chief executive officer of Randgold said action is needed, and essentially talk is cheap.
“From our point of view, what we need in attacking Ebola is a global effort, because at the end of the day this is not a disease that is isolatable – it is going to impact through the years,” Bristow said. “I put it in the same category that it’s all very well having these big meetings in Washington and Beijing, and bringing all Africans together and having a rah-rah session, but if you don’t actually invest in the capacity of Africa, you’re never going to change it.
“The point is that in most cases, talking doesn’t help a whole lot.”
Since the first reports of an outbreak in late March, the virus has claimed more than 4,500 lives with nearly all deaths reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, making it the worst outbreak to date.
In September, the U.S. said they would send medical staff to aid with outbreaks in West Africa, while the United Nations also stating they would send medical staff to aid the hardest hit countries.
Randgold has operations in the Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal, all countries bordering the infected regions of West Africa. The company’s recently commissioned Kibali mine, a joint-venture with
“When you really look at it, the DRC manages its Ebola outbreaks much better than certainly in West Africa recently, but that’s because it’s really restricted – there’s not much economic activity in those places,” he said. “We’ve got to learn from this, and there’s a big message in this.
“If you go back 10 years in the current countries that are under pressure – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – those countries 10 years ago were economically inactive, or inert, so it wasn’t a big issue.”
Bristow added that he didn’t think the international reaction to the recent Ebola epidemic was fast enough.
“When the disease reappeared recently, the international community did not respond properly, or efficiently,” Bristow said. “This disease is a very manageable disease, with the appropriate skills and attention given to it.
“When you look at all the thousands of people that die every day in Africa from many diseases, like malaria, which in fact is more contagious, we manage it,” he said. “But certainly education and awareness is the first and most focal point in dealing with Ebola.
“The sad thing is that this is, I think, the fourth outbreak of Ebola, and no one’s learned anything from it, and we should be learning from it.”
By Alex Létourneau of Kitco News aletourneau@kitco.com
Follow Alex Letourneau @alex_letourneau
