ECA strengthens CSO ownership of the Africa mining vision

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ECA Strengthens CSO Ownership of the Africa Mining Vision

ECA Press Release 127/2012

Addis Ababa, 19 July 2012 (ECA) - The Economic Commission for Africa, Sub-Regional Office for West Africa participated in a meeting of pan-African networks of civil society organizations (CSOs) working on mining and development, hosted by Third World Network – Africa in Accra, Ghana, between 26 and 29 June 2012. Held under the theme “African Mining: From Boom and Dislocation to Boom and Transformation,” the meeting sought to strengthen the understanding of the African Mining Vision (AMV) and its action plan among CSOs. It also provided a platform for the CSOs to strategize on their advocacy work from a more knowledgeable position on the AMV and its processes.

The presentations made during the meeting covered concrete topics related to the AMV, such as mining sector linkages and economic growth and development, South-South cooperation on mining and infrastructure development, international mineral commodity developments, mining sector fiscal regimes, mining and environmental challenges, and small scale mining.

The meeting identified five key areas needing specific emphasis in the implementation of the AMV: the role of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM), the promotion of decent work, strengthening the gender focus in all areas of the Vision, community empowerment through, for example, direct ownership of mining projects, and enhancing the role of the States and regional economic communities (RECs) in implementing the AMV. Specific recommendations were made to address these areas, including the mandatory signing, ratification and implementation of internationally accepted standards of decent work such as the ILO Convention 176 by all AU-member governments, and the need to strengthen the institutional and governance framework as well as the role of RECs in providing leadership to ensure policy harmonizing and coherence among member States.

The meeting recognized the central role of the proposed African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) in the implementation of the AMV, as the key institution for facilitating and providing support for national and subregional processes to implement the Vision’s action plan. Participants called for the strengthened financial autonomy in the operation of the Centre, and for African governments to provide direct financial support the AMDC to guarantee its independence from any other sources of external support. They also recommended that the mechanisms for state support to the Centre include the use of an export tax on raw mineral resources as a direct source of finance.

CSOs’ representatives at the meeting also called for continued technical input from the ECA in facilitating stronger stakeholder participation in delivering on the aspiration of the AMV. Through participation in such fora, the ECA is building a critical mass of informed stakeholders, including the CSOs whose role is important to the implementation of the Vision through its action plan.

The consultative meeting brought together participants from twelve African countries, as well as representatives of UNCTAD’s Commodities Division, ECA’s Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD), the ECA-AfDB-AU Joint Secretariat, and the Minerals Commission of Ghana, and was organized by the African Initiative on Mining, Environment and Society (AIMES) and the Africa Section of the International Trade Union Confederation, with financial and technical support from AusAID and ECA.

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