The African Legal Support Facility Partners With Benin to Promote Its Mining Sector

18 January 2016
Content from a Premium Partner
African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

To: 29/01/2016

Location: Dakar, Senegal

The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), in partnership with the Government of Benin, is conducting a 10-day capacity-building workshop that is aimed at supporting the government to improve governance in the management of its mining sector. The training will run from January 18-29, 2016 in Dakar, Senegal.

Attending the workshop are representatives of State Ministries and other institutions involved in the negotiation of mining agreements.

The participants will analyse existing mining agreements to help them understand obligations of each party. In addition, the training will expose the participants to key issues and elements at stake in a mining contract.

One of the main reasons why the ALSF was established was the recognition of the skills gap for African states in contract negotiations related to natural resources and other commercial transactions.

Maude Vallée, Principal Legal Counsel of the ALSF, stated that the participatory approach being used to deliver the training is designed to ensure that participants are engaged in the process of learning.

"We are conducting this workshop so that we can equip officials with skills to advise and represent their governments in future negotiations. We want more African experts involved in the negotiation of complex commercial transactions," she added.

The training workshop is one of the many interventions undertaken under the ALSF's capacity-building pillar, which seeks to strengthen and enhance the capacity of African government officials in contract negotiations and litigation.

The mining sector represents high growth potential for Benin. The Government intends to develop its mining sector to help catalyse socio-economic and human development.

The ALSF is an international public institution, hosted by the African Development Bank Group. Its mandate is to support African states by providing legal advisory services for vulture fund litigation and negotiating complex commercial transactions.

For more information please contact: Maude Vallée, African Legal Support Facility, m.vallee@afdb.org

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

Tagged:
Copyright © 2016 African Development Bank. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.