african alternative mining indaba in cape … · rosa luemburg stiftung the alternative mining...
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Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
The Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI) is an annual meeting
taking place in Cape Town as a parallel event to the
Mining Indaba. It is a platform that gathers civil society
organizations, community and grassroots movements, and
committed faith leaders to be vocal in their opposition to
the plundering of Africa by multinationals. While the Mining
Indaba itself is presented as a forum of investors, mining
companies, governments, and other stakeholders throughout
the world with the objective of improving the business of
mining in Africa, the Alternative Indaba comes as an initiative
to remind the decision makers of their responsibilities
towards their communities. The 2018 AMI edition gathered
at the DoubleTree Hotel in Cape Town between the 5th
and the 7th February 2018, with over 600 participants from
41 countries, mainly from the SADC (Southern African
Development Community). “Making Natural Resources Work
for the People: Towards Just Legal, Policy and Institutional
Reforms” was the subject of this year treated in three days
of reflexion and analyses divided in keynote addresses,
communities’ experiences, breakaway thematic sessions,
plenaries, and panel discussions.
Although the Mining Indaba requested being dedicated
to supporting education, career development, sustainable
development, and other important causes in Africai, realities
seem to be critical to their assessment. What is the true
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Picture: RLS Brazil Office
03 / 2018ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG
SOUTHERN AFRICA
IBRAHIMA THIAM, RLS
AFRICAN ALTERNATIVE MINING INDABA IN CAPE TOWN: A CALL FOR AN ALTERNATIVE THINKING
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
result of extractive practices? How are communities living
surrounding the mines being affected? To what extent are
their rights being considered? Are communities’ rights
to say yes or no to mining on their land being respected?
Is there any transparency in the management of mining
royalties? How are they impacting our economies? How are
communities’ interests being represented? Why does mining
rarely, if ever, profit communities? All these were questions
that were raised during the meeting.
The diagnostic of experiences in the different African
countries where mining is taking place remains the same,
only it is said in different words by different communities
chosen from the National Alternative Mining Indaba. The
NAMI has been inspired by the AMI and it is organized in
different countries as a given space for community and
civil society voices in the extractive industries. During the
2018 AMI, countries like Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Swaziland, Congo, Zambia, Sierra Leone, and South Africa
presented the results of the NAMI in their respective
countries.
The growth of many African countries is directly linked to
their mining and extractive activities. Unfortunately, the
wealth generated through such economies are of little
benefit to the people. A country like Nigeria is the world’s
8th largest exporter of oil, yet 70% of its population lives
on less than one euro a dayii. Niger stands as the world’s
fourth largest producer of uranium, 9% of the world market
behind Kazakhstan (36%), Canada (17%) and Australia (11%).
After 40 years of exploration, the Nigerien government was
still indignant at drawing only 5% of the national budget
revenueiii. In 2016, the country ranked to 187th out of 188
countries on the United Nations Human Development Index1.
One of their first challenges is their share rate in these
dividends which rarely go beyond 10%. African States are
often left in a precarious situation with influential mining
companies, whose motivation is that of profit, not social
needs.
Between 2013 and 2015, more than $750 million in mining
revenues have disappeared in the Democratic Republic of
Congoiv and by 2012, Congo Brazzaville had lost out on
$1.4billion through a series of opaque mining deals with
offshore companiesv. It shows how huge amounts of capital
are also going missing within Congo as a result of corruption
and an inefficient tax system. According to a study by the
Africa Centre for Strategies and Studies, the steady flow of
natural resource revenues benefits more the patronage and
governmental security structures, allowing them to stay
in power, while the public sector remains the first victim
and suffers from severe corruption. There is a strong link
between exploitation of natural resources and conflicts in
Africa. Very often, countries heavily rich in oil and minerals
are exposed to any risk of conflictvi. A study revealed that
between 1950 and 2000, 90% of armed conflicts in Africa
occurred in countries rich in biodiversityvii.
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Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
Another point raised during plenaries is land grabbing
caused by mining. Local communities in mining areas
are often victims of land use, dispossession, relocation,
environmental pollution, and degradation of their resources.
The loss of enormous quantities of soil is caused by the
mining industries. Further, there is the Free Prior Inform
concern (FPIC) concept that guarantees to all people the
right of self-determination, free determination of political
status, and free pursuit of economic, social and cultural
development of indigenous peopleviii. But to avoid obtaining
such consent, mining companies prefer rather negotiating
with local elites to obtain guarantees for their mining plans.
These elites in return take advantage from such negotiations
to reinforce their authority, and maintain their access to
economic gainsix. In Ghana for example, the traditional
authorities are customary landholders, who therefore play
a key role on the governance of artisanal and small-scale
mining in forested areas.
For Dr Yao Graham, the Coordinator of the pan-African
research and advocacy organisation Third World Network,
who presented on “Extractive laws in Africa: What is the
state of these laws? Why are our laws a problem? Why
and on what should we call for reforms?”, it is time is
to seek a balance of power in African societies between
the logic of citizen’s ownership and the responsibilities of
the State or governments as trustees. Most constitutions
in African countries pronounce for the sovereignty and
the accountability of power holders who manage the
minerals on behalf of the citizens. The rights of ownership,
exploration, and mining and disposing of minerals located in
African countries like Ghana, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania are
vested in the President on behalf of the Republicx.
All these laws need to be improved for a better accountability
in the choice made by the governments, especially if such
decisions don’t end up bringing profit to the people.
Criticising the nature of relationships between our regimes
and the multinationals, Yao Graham considers them
colonial and facilitating the multinationals. He also called
for a collective, citizen-based ownership of our minerals
that should consider the following points: Sustainable
management and accountability of the trustee to beneficiary,
a radical re-conception of state accountability of mineral
resources, the involvement of the population interest
regarding the vision that animates mineral exploitation in
our countries and accommodated law policies for foreign
investors that rather improve economic and social expansion
and welfare.
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Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
Although there have been several revisions and changes
in mining regulations and codes throughout the African
continent to attract greater foreign investment, the majority
remains obsolete and not adapted. October 2016, the
Senegalese National Assembly adopted the new mining
code which brings several innovationsxi: The concept of
revenue sharing has been introduced, which involves more
of the local authorities and the local people who live where
the mining would occur; the obligation for the rehabilitation
of the mine becomes effective during the research phase
instead of during the operating phase; royalties have reached
5% for gold and precious metals; the State will benefit from
participation in all mining operations via providing 10% of
the initial capital, and negotiates the additional acquisition
of 25% of capital to enable the Senegalese private sector
to have access to the mining sector; The confidentiality of
the data have been redeveloped in order to comply with the
transparency obligations of the standard of the Initiative for
transparency in the Extractive Industries (EITI).
The African continent is believed to contain roughly 30%
of the world’s mineral reserves but this still doesn’t turn
a profit to the continent. But a very first step should be to
treat the people as part-owner of the resources. This would
mean to involve affected communities before making the
decision to mine, and to ensure such communities are given
a comprehensive analysis of the likely impacts should mining
occur.
The 9th Edition of AMI ended with a declaration
summarising the main issues and concerns discussed during
the sessions, and a traditional march through the city to
the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where the
Mining Indaba was held. Hundreds of participants under the
leadership of faith leaders reached the Convention Centre to
present the memorandum to representatives of the African
Union Commission‚ the Department of Minerals Resources‚
the Chamber of Mines, and the African Mining Indaba. This
is an example that we would encourage leaders in African
countries to follow. Africa has a great sensitiveness to
religion, and religious leaders should stand as part of the civil
society to defend the moral, social, political, and economic
interests of the people. Africa is living the paradox of holding
30 % of the world reserves on minerals, whereas 22 of 24
nations identified as having “Low Human Development” on
the United Nations’ (UN) Human Development Index are
in Africa. The AMI called upon the African States for more
responsibility and accountability to what will be the legacy
for the next generations. A mining Indaba should be spread
to the rest of Africa above all the West African part which is
facing lot of challenges.
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Picture: RLS Brazil Office
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
1 https://www.miningindaba.com/ehome/283869/About/i http://www.dw.com/fr/pour-quelques-litres-de-p%C3%A9trole-
nig%C3%A9rian/a-16459077ii http://geopolis.francetvinfo.fr/areva-au-niger-et-luranium-darlit-12195iii https://africacenter.org/security-article/regime-cash-machine-democratic-republic-
congos-booming-mining-exports-failing-benefit-people/iv https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/democratic-republic-congo/regime-
cash-machine/v https://www.impact.sn/Exploitation-des-ressources-naturelles-en-Afrique-Le-
Pentagone-accuse-le-Forum-de-Tana-met-en-perspective_a2446.htmlvi http://www.jeuneafrique.com/235273/societe/lafrique-malade-de-ses-ressources-
naturelles/vii Article 1. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the
International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights: “All peoples have the right of selfdetermination. By virtue
of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development.”ix Sara Geenen & Jana Hönke: Land grabbing by mining companies: Local contentions
and state reconfiguration in South Kivu (DRC)x https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/tr/Documents/energy-resources/za-
state-of-mining-africa-09022015.pdfxi http://bmcaudit.sn/blog/les-principales-innovations-apportees-a-lancien-code-minier-
du-senegal/
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