IM4DC had a strong presence and involvement in this year’s African Mining Indaba, held in Cape Town in early February. Personnel from IM4DC – both staff and alumni – participated in many of the side events, which this year included launches of many reports and tools that will help to guide activities in minerals, energy and development.
As well as holding discussions with a number of its collaboration partners in Africa, IM4DC personnel participated in events organised by the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Australia’s SkillsDMC, Austrade, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the South African Institute for International Affairs, and the International Council on Mining and Metals.
IM4DC’s Emerging Leaders in African Mining (ELAM) program was held for a second time in conjunction with Mining Indaba, delivered in partnership with the AMDC. In cooperation with conference organisers, the ELAM program encouraged participants to utilise the conference as a giant ‘leadership laboratory’ as well as take the opportunity to network with senior personnel from government and industry.
Key initiatives launched and workshopped at Mining Indaba included:
Power of the Mine: A Transformative Opportunity for Sub-Saharan Africa is a World Bank study that analyses the potential and challenges of power-mining integration. The findings show that the mining industry’s demand for electricity can be a game changer by spurring wider development of electricity systems to supply business and communities in mining regions. The report is available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/21402
The Negotiation Support Portal developed and hosted by the Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment is designed to support resource-rich developing countries prepare for, negotiate, monitor, and implement large-scale investment projects. The portal website is at: http://www.negotiationsupport.org/ It is sponsored by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the US State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources. A key tool available through the portal is the IM4DC-published 50 pieces of advice to an official who is engaged in the negotiation of mining contracts by Professor Fabien Nkot.
The Art and Science of Benefit Sharing in the Natural Resource Sector (http://commdev.org/the-art-and-science-of-benefit-sharing-in-the-natural-resource-sector) discussion paper was launched in a workshop session in Cape Town. It has been prepared by the International Finance Corporation (IFC – part of the World Bank Group) to contribute to the understanding and discussion of how the costs and benefits of natural resource development are shared across society. This paper presents how IFC, as both an investor and a development organisation, determines whether benefits and costs are shared reasonably, and how this assessment influences IFC’s decision to invest in a particular natural resource project.
A Practical Guide to Increasing Mining Local Procurement in West Africa (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/21489) was launched by the World Bank in a roundtable session. It provides information, guidance and tools to support decision-making, planning and implementation of mining local procurement in West Africa, in particular at a country level. It can be used by individual players as well as form the basis of consultative processes. The guide can also support regional harmonization relating to mining local procurement. It was funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The IFC also released the second edition of its magazine Sustain Cutting Edge Business Solutions (http://sustainbusiness.org/) that provides ‘Smart strategies for social impact, environmental preservation, and economic progress’.