Former fashion model turned mining entrepreneur, Tiguidanké Camara is the founder and chairman of Tigui Mining Group in her native Republic of Guinea and one of Africa’s youngest female mining executives. Tigui Mining Group, one of a handful of women-owned mineral exploration companies, is the parent company of Camara Diamond & Gold Trading Network, an exploration and exploitation junior mining company focused on gold and diamond projects in West Africa. The company has an office in New York.
Camara is a member of Women In Mining, a global industry-focused education and advocacy nonprofit, and a founding member of the organization’s Guinea chapter. No stranger to politics—she is the current general secretary of the Guinean Alliance for Development party; her father, the youngest governor under President Sékou Touré, currently is the same party’s president and political advisor to the country’s prime minister—she harbors strong political ambitions. In 2013, President Alpha Condé honored her among 23 Guinean women making an exceptional contribution to the country’s economic development.
Camara recently spoke to me about her involvement in mining, in an exclusive interview at the offices of AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com in New York City.
AfSB: Explain your leap from modeling to mining.
Camara: As models we are already into the mining sector. We model jewelry. Some of my friends are jewelers and have mining licenses in Africa, some in my country. I stopped modeling in 2001.
AfSB: Beyond making money, what do you hope to accomplish in mining?
Camara: For African countries, mining is a main driver for development. In Guinea there was no impact on the community, no women active in the sector. Coming from a political family, I had insights that others don’t have. My country is rich in mineral resources—untapped resources. Every year I go to [the Mining Indaba in] South Africa to find out what associations exist. My goal is to find out about all the other women in this sector. There are forums, but none where you find women from all over Africa. By the end of 2015 I would love to create that—an African association. The one in South Africa is just for South Africans.
AfSB: What changes have you seen since you became active in the sector?
Camara: Over the past four years we’ve started to see a trend. Previously, you had women with licenses, but the women who owned those licenses were afraid to exploit them. They would simply flip them, take the money and get out. Now, seeing me moving around, going to forums, they are no longer scared, but they are not as mobile as I am. I started a movement—women who were in the shadows are no longer scared. [Women in Mining Guinea] is bringing greater awareness; government is giving more support and the sector. I want to learn the business. It’s important to be on the ground, to know what’s going on in order to make the right decisions. I sweep, so I know how long it takes to sweep. When they come to me I know what they’re talking about.
AfSB: Did you obtain your licenses through family connections?
Camara: You have to work hard to get people to listen to you. When they see me they see the passion. I don’t bring my father. They know the licensing is coming from me. When we were coming to America, my father gave us $100. We were mad, but he insisted we go out and get our own. He allowed us to grow, to learn from our mistakes. I come from a privileged background but I have to follow the rules.
AfSB: What is your production like?
Camara: I have not started producing. Hopefully next year I will. The country had setbacks. The economy was hard on junior miners. Also, I’m very keen on sustainability, so it was hard to find the right partner. I wanted to have a certain impact on the community, to give back. People with money came, but I wanted [someone like-minded].
I have been self-financing. I did the preliminary research with my own funds. We’ve been using our own funds since 2009. I now have a pan-African partner and he has put in funds. I now have the funds and means to produce, but because of Ebola I can’t work. It’s a safety issue. But we’re getting to a place where we’re starting to gain control. There was a great deal of misinformation, but the government is sensitizing the community. In the last four to six weeks there have been no new cases in certain areas, or only one or two cases. People know how to protect themselves.
AfSB: How is your company organized and what is it doing at the moment?
Camara: I have a team of local, permanent geologists from Guinea. In the United States I have a vice president. I mostly take care of Africa. I hired a team of consultants, advisers, for decision making and programs. The consultants are expatriates. They’re paid on a project-by-project basis. The business will always remain a woman-owned business. I’m looking to go on the stock market in the future.
I have a total 356 square kilometers in Guinea. My goal is to branch out to West Africa in diamonds and gold. In Côte d’Ivoire there is gold, diamond and oil I want to explore. I want to get licenses and look for the right partner for each license. I want to concentrate on the bullion market. It is safe. I want to sell to governments and banks. I have no interest in selling to the gold and diamond merchants on 47th Street [in Manhattan]. If that’s my interest I might as well open a counter, buy from others and sell. I tried that before but it didn’t work for me. It’s difficult. There could be inside people who can switch the gold or diamonds that you are shipping. That’s why I steer clear of that [in favor of] banks, governments and big buyers.
AfSB: What’s the worst mistake you made?
Camara: We made a lot of mistakes, but there term “give up” isn’t in my vocabulary. I learn from my mistakes. I had someone co-sign on my business accounts so that when I was not here he could make decisions. He wiped out the accounts. He ran off with machinery, wiped out the company. Had that not happened I would have been selling my production now. That’s what set me back all these years. That’s when my current partner came in, in 2011. I was new. I trusted blindly. You can trust people but there’s a limit. I had to start from scratch. The good thing is, I still had my licenses. I lost close to $5 million in machinery and gold.
AfSB: Are you pursuing him legally?
Camara: I leave it to God. God has made me stronger and cleared the path. [The man who defrauded me] is hiding. I am not. He had 12 years’ experience in the mining sector. I was just a model and business major. I had friends who had invested in the business. He took it all. My current partner is one of the friends who invested. My concern was how would I get back on my feet and not lose my licenses. My new partner cleaned up all the debts. This time we did not buy machinery. We structured the company the right way—learn the business first. Go to forums. Different stages require certain things. Before, I wanted to get it all at once then start exploring. Our focus now is to get the work done—start exploration, get Ebola out of the system, find new partners for new projects we’ll be starting.
AfSB. What lessons have you learned?
Camara: I don’t have to do it all myself or all at once. I didn’t need industrial licenses. I could get a six-month renewable reconnaissance license. Reconnaissance is cheaper than exploration, and that’s cheaper than semi-industrial licensing. The main lessons I learned are: One, love what you’re doing first. It takes a lot of hours. Mining is not a date. It’s a marriage for the long term. It could take 10 years before you start seeing any money. Two, learn the business. If you don’t, it’s difficult to make the right decisions. In mining, every decision costs. Three, if you have no background, surround yourself with those who have. If you don’t know the business you cannot evolve in it. If you don’t have the patience and passion you won’t stay in it. Investors need to see that you are staying. Four, you need to have funds. Banks want to see reports, to get reports you need funds.
AfSB: Is Africa really benefiting from mining?
Camara: Africa is starting to seize control. It’s a wake up call. The World Bank is helping governments to better negotiate deals, to have better control of our own resources. We’re starting to see more Africans owning their own companies. There have always been rules where foreign investors had to joint venture with locals, but because of corruption Africans did not benefit. That’s changing now.
AfSB: What should governments do to help locals in the sector?
Camara: African governments must do more for our own local investors. Help them to get funds to do exploration and preliminary research. For a local investor it is costly to go to forums. There is no government system backing them or training them. If they want to see some of the wealth stay in Africa, they need to see more locals as company owners. They also need to put in place stability for foreign investors—put in place laws, guarantees to protect investment, an investment infrastructure. African governments are working on that now. They are trying. Guinea is doing a lot of reforms. Hopefully in 2015 we’ll see changes.
