Regional economic communities’ efforts to harmonize mining codes have increased, emphasizing the need for transparent regulatory frameworks and efficient admin-istrative systems, including one-stop shops for mineral licensing. Most regional economic communities, nota-bly ECOWAS, SADC and EAC (box 2.6), have taken initial steps towards harmonizing national policies, laws and regulations and to developing common standards to create a uniform business environment for investors.
The ECOWAS Mineral Development Policy, confirmed by ECOWAS Ministers in June 2011, was developed as a regional initiative. It was preceded by the 2009 ECOWAS Mining Directive, which has been gazetted by a number of countries. The Policy envisions exploiting minerals as a key element of industrialization-driven structural transformation. It also accepts the need for far-reaching reforms in overall governance of the mineral economy and greater accountability of firms and governments, as
well as an end to discrimination against artisanal and small-scale mining.
In 2006, SADC adopted a Framework for the Harmo-nization of Mining Policies Standards and Regulatory Frameworks. This comprises policy guidelines in key areas of the SADC mineral economy: mineral develop-ment issues such as mineral rights, value addition and artisanal and small-scale mining; and the macroeco-nomic and business climate (tax, governance, environ-mental management and social issues, and so on).
Challenges for implementation at subregional level in-clude regional economic community secretariats’ lack of capacity to support national roll-out; a grounding in moral suasion, not law; loosely defined time-bound ac-tivities; few national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks; and generally slow domestication of the Africa Mining Vision. Regional economic communities can build stronger constituencies to support account-ability in pursuing reforms.
Box 2.5.
The United States Power Africa Initiative The Power Africa Initiative is an effort by the United States government to encourage private investment in Africa’s energy infrastructure via the private sector and technical cooperation with African governments on reforming electricity sector regulations. It aims to increase production capacity by 30,000 megawatts across the continent, focusing on more environmen-tally friendly generation.
The initiative facilitates contracts with the private sector that are expected to add 4,100 megawatts to Africa’s electricity generation capacity. It is working on other projects that could add a further 20,000 mega-watts (United States Agency for International Devel-opment, 2015). The initiative has secured a total com-mitment of around $35 billion to finance investments in Africa’s energy infrastructure, building on an initial commitment of $7 billion from the United States gov-ernment (United States Agency for International De-velopment, 2015). Power Africa also supports regional energy moves, including the West Africa and East Afri-ca power pools United States Agency for International Development.
The African Development Bank ($3 billion), the private sector ($20 billion), the Swedish government ($1 bil-lion) and the World Bank Group ($5 bilbil-lion) commit-ted the remaining financing (Unicommit-ted States Agency for International Development, 2015). That government, through the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency, is also supporting regional energy cooperation through capacity building and institu-tional support to the Southern Africa Power Pool, East Africa Power Pool, and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Sub-sidiary Action Program United States Agency for Inter-national Development.
In September 2014, the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development signed a memorandum of un-derstanding on cooperation with Power Africa, allow-ing them to work together better on the African Power Vision and its regional and other transformational en-ergy projects (United States Agency for International Development, 2015).
The Africa Mining Vision advocates a “transparent, eq-uitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and so-cio-economic development” and was adopted by Af-rican Heads of States and Government in 2009. It pro-vides a strategy for the vital role of mining and minerals in assisting African countries achieve their development goals (box 2.7).
Much progress has been made with the Africa Mining Vision’s roll-out. The African Minerals Development Centre was launched by the African Union Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resource Development in De-cember 2013 to provide strategic operational support for the Africa Mining Vision and its Action Plan. Its mis-sion is to work with member States and their national and regional organizations to promote the transform-ative role of mineral resources in the development of
the continent through increased economic and social linkages.
Using tools such as the Country Mining Vision guide-book,12 the Centre provides technical advice to mem-ber States to improve their mineral-resource policies;
establish appropriate institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks; and invest in human resources, research and development (R&D; box 2.8), and geological and geophysical data critical for managing mineral resourc-es well. Its work has achieved several goals:
• Harmonized policies at national, subregional and continental levels;
• Improved capacity of African states and regional economic communities to mainstream minerals sector development into national programmes;
Box 2.6.
Mining in EAC
In its development strategy 2011/2012–2015/2016, the EAC articulated its desire to harmonize mineral policies and mining regimes. The strategy calls upon member States to take measures to promote devel-opment of strategic regional industries/value chains including extractive and mineral processing, petro-chemicals and gas processing, and iron and steel.
The strategy notes that lack of coordination in pro-moting and developing value chains along regional dimensions and the absence of regional frameworks for establishing and supporting investments in strate-gic regional industries hamper development of indus-tries in which the region has a comparative advantage.
Strategic regional industries/value chains, particular-ly in extractive-mineral value-adding industries, are
anticipated to spur growth of downstream industries, build backward and forward linkages across the re-gion, and position the region on the path to sustain-able growth, but policy and legislative frameworks need to be harmonized first.
Having recognized the challenges, the African Mining Development Centre (see main text) is supporting EAC in reviewing these frameworks for its mineral sec-tor. Support includes analysis of the frameworks for EAC member States, and collaboration with member States to review and align their frameworks with the Africa Mining Vision. Kenya and Uganda have already benefited from technical support from the Centre. The United Republic of Tanzania is an Africa Mining Vision country with arrangements to provide continuing technical support.
• Enhanced capacity for mineral policy assessment and analysis and for negotiating mineral contracts;
• Strengthened R&D capacity and stronger linkages and diversification in the minerals sector; and
• Enhanced capacity for revenue collection, manage-ment, transparency, accountability and community engagement.
Box 2.7.
The Africa Mining Vision
The Vision describes the features of the future miner-als sector:
• A knowledge-driven African mining sector that ca-talyses and contributes to the broad-based growth and development of, and that is fully integrated into, a single African market through:
- Downstream linkages into mineral beneficiation and manufacturing.
- Upstream linkages into mining capital goods, consumables and services industries.
- Sidestream linkages into infrastructure (power, logistics, communications and water) and skills and technology development.
- Mutually beneficial partnerships between the state, the private sector, civil society, local com-munities and other stakeholders.
- A comprehensive knowledge of its mineral en-dowment.
• A sustainable and well-governed mining sector that effectively garners and deploys resource rents and that is safe, healthy, gender and ethnically in-clusive, environmentally friendly, socially responsi-ble and appreciated by surrounding communities.
• A mining sector that has become a key component of a diversified, vibrant and globally competitive industrializing African economy.
• A mining sector that has helped establish a com-petitive African infrastructure platform, through the maximization of its propulsive local and re-gional economic linkages.
• A mining sector that optimizes and husbands Afri-ca’s finite mineral resource endowments and that is diversified, incorporating both high-value met-als and lower-value industrial minermet-als at commer-cial and small-scale levels.
• A mining sector that harnesses the potential of artisanal and small-scale mining to stimulate lo-cal and national entrepreneurship, improve live-lihoods and advance integrated rural social and economic development.
• A mining sector that is a major player in vibrant and competitive national, continental and interna-tional capital and commodity markets.
Source: African Union Commission and ECA (2009).