Graham’s road-map solves illegal mining menace

Dr. Yao Graham, coordinator at the Third World Network Africa (TWN), has called for incorporation of rural development strategies to help solve the massive menace in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector.

 

This will ensure adequate job-creation and sustain meaningful livelihoods for youth in the mining communities.

Implementation of the rural development strategies will also promote the strengthening of national ownership and national participation in the mineral economy and linkages between the mining sector and the rest of the world.

Dr. Graham told this to participants made up civil society organisations at a two-day capacity building workshop for 40 representatives of major constituencies from across West Africa.

He blamed the menace in the artisanal and small-scale mining in the country on a weakling economy.

“If the Ghanaian and African economies were creating enough jobs, no citizen of Africa would have engaged in illegal small-scale mining, knowing the dangers involved.”

He observed that lack of inter relations by the African Union with country Government is hampering implementation of the action-plan for the continental African Mining Vision.

“Mining has emerged as leading economic activity in West Africa. Ghana, Mali and now Burkina Faso are today three of Africa’s most important gold producers. Guinea and Liberia are also significant global players in the iron ore sector, but the benefit of mining to the economies of West Africa remains marginal at best,” he said.

He explained that despite the sub-sector’s significant potential economic and social benefits, expected support and regulation from Government agencies to augment the realisation of these benefits have largely not been activated.

These developments, he explained,  have exposed inadequacies in Africa’s excessively liberal mining regimes -- characterised by overgenerous incentives for foreign investors in laws and contracts, and weak regulatory  frameworks which do not sufficiently protect communities, workers and the environment.

As a result, African Governments have not been getting an equitable share of the increased mining revenues, and relations between many communities and mines are volatile.

He stated that the African mining vision addresses the long-standing paradox of a continent endowed with natural resources but still faced with high levels of poverty and disparity among African populations.

“Through targetted policy reforms, the AMV seeks to address the structural flaws of a model inherited from the colonial era characterised by the enclaved, mono-sectoral nature of mining activities; and the weakened institutional capacity and profoundly asymmetrical relations between the negotiating capacity of Government and companies.

“The AMV, in effect, proposes a paradigm-shift away from the model of extractive resources exploitation based on a high dependency on international export markets that has proven incapable of delivering socio-economic development to Africa,” Dr. Graham remarked.