WHY MINING IN AFRICA IS NOT AFRICAN
AND
OPPORTUNITIES TO REVERSE NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS
Author: Dr. A. Massawe, Mining Engineer, Dar es Salaam.
One: Playing big cats (developed countries) in a field dominated by big cats (developed countries) when small cats are what developing African countries are.
Most African Mineral Policies are not delivering national expectations most effectively due the non-African reliance on private sector led mining sectors they are built for when their local private sectors are still underdeveloped, incorporate negligible fractions of their local populations through stock markets and lack global competitiveness in mining business.
Without own private sector mining capacities, mineral policies built for private sector led mining sectors
always lead to the evolution of the foreign dominated mining sectors we see exporting mineral revenues and minerals in the form of raw materials from Africa and contributing very little in the form of royalties, taxes and aid here and there to the African economies.
Such mineral policies serve national interests in the mineral rich developed countries like Canada, Australia and the United States of America (USA) which have own private sector mining capacities which are global competitive and incorporating most of their interested and well funded citizens through stock markets.
For the mineral rich African countries, mineral policies should be built for the self-reliance obtainable from Governments investing in their mineral sectors (they should include in their investment priorities) to empower their local participation and maximize their shares of mineral revenues for re-investing in the development of their local private mining sectors and remain investing so till the local private mining sectors develop into dependable public forces which are global competitive and incorporate majority citizens through stock markets.
Emulation of mineral policies in the national companies led mining sectors in mineral rich middle economies like India, Brazil and Argentina is what mineral rich African countries could have done.
While African countries are playing Canadian and/or Australian and/American and failing, the Chinese are playing Chinese, the Australians Australian, Indians Indian, Brazilians Brazilian, Russians Russian and all succeeding.
When competing with big cats, small cats should play the style which makes small cats competitive rather than play the style which makes big ones competitive.
When competing with the mineral rich developed countries mineral rich developing countries should play the developing countries style rather than the style which makes developed ones competitive.
Two: Forcing small cats (citizens in the developing African countries) to compete for their own food (mineral resources) with a herd of alien big cats (the powerful foreign mining companies).
Most African Mineral Policies violate citizens rights of heritage on the mineral resources of their countries when they allow the Governments to treat citizens and foreigners on equal terms (same rents and taxes for mineral rights) as if minerals in the African countries are properties of the African Governments and/or foreigners and Africa citizens have same rights of heritage on the minerals in African countries.
Such treatment could serve national interests in mineral rich developed countries like Canada, Australia and USA which have global competitive local private mining sectors which wins abroad if loses at home and the other way round.
I would describe the treatment of citizens and foreigners as having equal rights of heritage on minerals in the African countries as a deliberate avoidance of African Governments responsibility to empower their citizens and enable them to participate in their mineral sectors and/or deliberate acts of the African Governments to drive off the underdeveloped local private sectors in favour of foreign domination by the powerful foreign mining companies for the Government taxes they are interested in most rather than the Government taxes plus national profits they should focused on instead.
African Mineral Policies should created rents and fiscal regimes which favour their local private mining sectors and their partnerships with foreign mining companies against domination of the foreign mining companies which carry very minimal benefit to the mineral rich African countries in terms of skills transfer and mineral revenues.
Three: Non involvement of citizens in the decisions reached by their Governments and the foreign mining companies on the development of mineral resources in African countries.
Most African Mineral Policies violate citizen rights of heritage on the mineral resources of their countries when they allow the African Governments to endorse large scale Mineral Development Agreements without any involvement of the citizens and in secrecy as if minerals in the African countries are the properties of the African Governments. Instead, African Mineral Policies should have required the citizens to endorse large scale Mineral Development Agreements through a majority vote of their Parliaments before the Governments could sign them. Such approach enables the multiple view of brain diversity in their Parliaments to eliminate all flaws and generate flawless Mineral Development Agreements which benefit the mineral rich African countries most effectively.
African mining which is African is obtainable from African Mineral Policies which are founded on Governments investing to support increased local participation; variable rents and taxes which favour local and their partnerships with foreigners against foreign domination; and involvement of citizens (through their Parliaments) in the decisions involved in large scale Mineral Development Agreements.
Governments' investing to support their private sectors in developing countries is justifiable because it is parents helping their children to survive competitions in a field dominated grownup competitors.
Again, it was also a favour when some developed countries decided to import goods from some developing countries free of import-duty knowing that children (developing countries) won't survive without the favour or become a threat with it in the open market dominated by grownups (developed countries).
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