Moussa K. Traoré
30 October 2008
opinion
Underlining the fundamental absence of an effective legal framework around the mining sector's increasing presence and power in the West African region, Moussa K. Traoré assesses the social and economic impacts of an industry that has uncovered riches for countries' leaders while leaving local populations excluded and deprived. Concluding that far greater information and dialogue are needed between the companies, authorities, and local stakeholders, the author argues for an increased role for civil society as a means of ensuring industry benefits become more widespread.
Talking about extractive industries in West Africa is both a difficult and delicate exercise in a region where several stages have defined mining's evolution. For this reason, many laws and regulations have been adopted as a means of harmonising and regulating mineral extraction. At times the laws have proved a deterrent, at others they have been lax, and others still they have been called attractive. Sometimes there has not even been a law and it has been necessary to 'create' one according to the demands of the time. This is to say that at certain points laws have been imposed retrospectively, something which a given rise to a host of advantages and disadvantages.
Because mines are not open at the same time and methods differ between them, and with each country wanting to appear more attractive than others, a variety of texts exist about extractive industry, sometimes even to the detriment of mining codes. As a result, the consequences and impacts associated with extractive industries are measured according to each country.
This is important as for many decades extractive industries have been experiencing a rapid expansion to become the main source of state budget contributions. If the bulk of budget revenue were to come from the primary sector (agriculture, cattle rearing, and fishing), this trend would be reversed. Our countries confront many problems in the form of internal and external constraints which impede the momentum of the primary sector.
Revenues provided by the primary sector are however in the process of being substituted by those from extractive industries. It is no secret that these industries are supported by a great many interests, notably those of financiers, with myriad consequences. For this reason, according to the moods of our rulers, establishing extractive industries occurs through a process of negotiations, deals, steps, and interviews which is not always transparent, known far better by administrations than their populations.
With the considerable revenues acquired or anticipated from extractive industries, populations' expectations of their governments are high. Unfortunately, establishing extractive industries seems in general to be a 'curse' for our countries and especially for those zones where the industry operates.
The findings are grim: populations in mining zones suffer, and are hungry and thirsty. Flora and fauna are decimated. The environment is covered (a lunar landscape emerges and settles). Customs and habits begin to break down. Poverty and misery become endemic. Disease and perversion become commonplace. In short, areas under extractive industry see their future mortgaged, giving rise to total disarray.
So, the fundamental questions are the following:
- On what basis and under what criteria and conditions are the big mining companies authorised to establish themselves in our countries?
- What are the actual impacts produced by the establishment of extractive industries?
- What advantages are actually gained by both our populations and governments through the presence of these industries in our countries?
- And what arrangements have been made once these companies have up and left?
All these questions reinforce the essentially delicate and critical aspect of our subject. Because the answers to these questions can be found all around. They are among mining companies, national and international institutions, our peoples, our executives, and our leaders.
OVERVIEW OF THE WEST AFRICAN MINING CONTEXT, WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO MALI
As a reminder, it is worthwhile knowing that mineral extraction in West Africa dates back far further than the 20th century. Mineral extraction has in fact always been undertaken throughout the region under various different traditional forms. From the 6th or 7th empire of Ghana/Ouagadou (which comprised a part of today's Mali, of Mauritania, and of Senegal), ancient texts spoke of sovereigns adorned with golden ornaments. In Côte d'Ivoire and in Ghana, the empress Pokou of the Baoulés and the Ashanti demonstrated that their people had gold. In Guinea, Mali, and in Senegal, covering the ancient Manding empire, the exploits of the emperor Kankou Moussa have shown the region to be rich in gold. The same was true with regard to the mineral's use in the Songhai empire (Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Benin, etc.) and the Mossi Kingdom of Yatenga.
This means that throughout West Africa there was a strong gold mining tradition. With the colonial invasion came the establishing of mining companies, meaning that the history of colonisation effectively gave rise to the appearance of mineral extraction under the industrial form that we all know today. It began in anglophone countries, notably in Ghana with Ashanti gold, and in francophone countries in Guinea with iron followed by bauxite.
Following a period of calm between 1960 and 1990, we have witnessed, after some decades, the exponential growth of extractive industries in the West African sub-region. Today in West Africa there is practically no country without its own extractive industry.
For example, in Mali between 1994 and 2007, around 150 operating licences were issued to both national and foreign companies, along with more that 25 certificates for exploitation and more than 200 research permits. Under normal conditions, this growth would be accompanied by a parallel rise in the development of our states and populations, especially those found in mining areas.
The production of gold in Mali has gone from less than half a tonne during the 1980s to more than 50 tonnes in 2007. Income received from mining increased from less than 10 billion in 1995 to more than 300 billion in 2007. The share of mining revenues in the total amount of budget revenues has gone from less than 1% in 1989 to 3% in 1993, then to almost 18% in 2007. In Mali's case, gold has practically replaced cotton, a phenomenon common across the sub-region. This means that the share of revenues provided by industrial exploitation is replacing that of crops in our states.
Paradoxically, the development of our states seems far from reflecting the amount of revenue acquired. So is it reasonable to ask why the industry is present in our countries? To attempt to answer this question is to try to highlight the impact of mining in our countries. In Mali for example, one sees everybody ask the question: 'what do we gain from this gold?'
One of the first answers is that, according to a small survey, the same companies originating from the same countries are found under a variety of names depending on the zones of extraction. To avoid being discovered, these companies have employed the tactic of using the name of places of the mineral's discovery or something else of importance in the society in which it has established itself. In this way, the same company can operate within the same territory without the layman noticing.
The majority of companies that operate in the West African sub-region are all the same. They use all possible combinations from one country to another. The bulk of the companies within the region originate from the following countries: South Africa, France, the USA, Canada, England (with South Africa, the USA, or Canada as intermediaries), Russia, Australia, Switzerland, South Korea, and China.
This point must not obscure the fact that these companies are supported by extensive banking networks, the ramifications of which are everywhere within our countries and extend into the very depths of international institutions.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS ON EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES IN WEST AFRICA, ALSO WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MALI
Be the first to Write a Comment!
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
