Opinion
Africa must benefit from its mineral and natural resources
A third and important structural measure is a better integration of Africa’s development policies. Africa needs to embed long term development objectives firmly into the processes for extracting natural resources. For mining to benefit Africa’s people, strong backward and forward linkages in the local economy should allow local entrepreneurs and industrialists to take advantage of service provision and technology transfer opportunities as a result of proximity to the mining industry. This means investment in infrastructure, research and human capital development, through conditionality for local content.
This is what other regions have done; this is what Africa needs to do. Within this paradigm of development-led mining, the potential of small-scale mining should also be harnessed and improved to improve rural livelihoods and integration into the rural and national economy. Other factors such as the building of human and institutional capacities towards a knowledge economy that supports innovation, research and development and the promotion of good governance of the mineral sector in which communities and citizens participate in decision making and in mineral assets, and in which there is equity in the distribution of benefits are also necessary pre-requisites.
In conclusion, Africa’s natural resource is a blessing and not a curse and can and will be used as a precursor for the continent’s continuous rise and in the face of the insatiable appetite for natural resources on the world stage. To make this possible, frameworks such as the Africa Mining Vision must be implemented and used as a template at country and regional level.
Carlos Lopes is executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
