People, Power & Politics: What Is Neededto Harness the Extractive Industriesfor Development

People, Power & Politics: What is neededto harness the extractive industriesfor development in sub-SaharanAfrica?

Monday 13th June2016

James McQuilken, Workshop Organiser, |@J_McQuilken

Last week over 40 PhD researchers, leading academics, and expertindustry practitioners met at Surrey Business School to explore the challengesand pathways to realising the development potential of extractiveindustries (mining, oil and gas). This interdisciplinary workshop, ‘HarnessingExtractive Industries for Development in sub-Saharan Africa’, fostered dialogue, laidthe basis for future collaboration, and identified that while there are nosilver bullets, nor short-term solutions, it is all about the people, power andpolitics when it comes to ensuring the development of the region’sextractive resources.

Re-thinking Existing Discourses: What do eggs, toothpaste, and jeans allhave incommon?

Opening the workshop with his keynote speech, Professor Gavin Hilsonfocused on anoftenoverlooked, and largely informal sector that supports upwards of 13 million people in theregion:artisanalandsmall-scalemining(ASM).Hedrewattentiontotheshiftingentrepreneurvs.poverty-drivennarrativesindonorandpolicy-makingcirclesoverthepastfourdecades,andpointedtotheemerging idea of ASM for wealth-creation. Crucially, he underscored that beyond thesedescriptionsASMshouldbeunderstoodandprioritisedasasignificantdevelopmentopportunityandvitalpartofthe regions livelihoodportfolio.

This theme of re-thinking and questioning assumptions continued throughout the two-day eventwithDrDanielFranksarguingfortheneedtoprioritisethedevelopmentoflesser-knownminerals.Asafirststep,headvocatedthatweshoulddoawaywiththemorecommonlyknownclassification,‘low-value minerals and metals’, and rename it ‘Neglected Development Minerals’. To the surprise ofmanynow-enlightenedaudiencemembers(myselfincluded),wewereremindedthatNeglectedDevelopmentMineralsareusedintheproductionofeggs,toothpaste,andjeansaswellasmanyotherindustrialminerals,constructionmaterials,and,dimensionandsemi-preciousstones.Minedmostly for domestic economic purposes (as opposed to trading on international commoditymarkets),thesemineralspresentasignificantdevelopmentopportunity,onethatDanielexplainedtheUNDPcapacity building ACP-EU Development Minerals Programmeis hoping tocatalyse.

Later,duringthelivelypaneldiscussion,whichsawfiveexperts1fromindustry,academiaandtheNGO sector share their reflections, Dr Juliana Stoyanova, Head of Extractive IndustriesGovernanceat Adam Smith International, once again challenged us to re-think what harnessing theextractiveindustrieslookslikeindifferentcontexts.Highlightingtheimportanceofunderstandingthepeople,power, and politics that shape the response of agencies, governments and the private sector, andthedesign of developmentprogrammes.

Listening toCommunities

Throughout the workshop a number ofpresenters(as summarised on Twitter) reminded us thatwemust listen to and truly empower communitiesindecision-making in order to fullyharnessextractives for development. Sarah Caven,anexploration geologist, invited us to stay atfieldcamps in rural Ethiopia and explore themanypotential linkages between explorationcompanies,community development, and artisanal andsmall-scale mining. We also heard about the needforlocalcontent,andcapacitybuildingthroughTechnical and Vocational Education andTraining(TVET) through case studies on CSR inChad,employee retention in Oman’s oil sector,and,community contestation, engagement andlabourdynamics in Mozambique’s Liquid NaturalGassector.

The links to the ground were further cemented during the question and answer session withStephenOkyere, a diamond dealer and small-scale miner. Stephen told us about the devastating effects ofthe2006-2007 Kimberly Process embargo on his hometown of Akwatia, where Ghana’s onlymajordeposits of industrial diamonds originate. With no way to export their hard-won diamonds,peoplewere left destitute. Many, including taxi drivers, food sellers, and other small businessownersdependentonthesmall-scaleminingsectorlefttheareaanditbecame‘aghosttown’.Thiswasatimely reminder that despite our best intentions we must always consider the impact oncommunitiesat the local level when designing and implementing high-level governance policies andprogrammes.

Working Together – academia, industry andNGOs

Themostresoundingmessagefromthetwo-dayinterdisciplinaryworkshopwasthat‘weneedmoreof these’ as the Natural Resource Governance Institute’s Joe Williams appealed to theaudienceduringthepaneldiscussion.Itisclearthatthereisasignificantgapinwhichweasacademicsfromacross the social and geo-sciences, expert industry practitioners, the private sector andnon-governmental organisations can work together to improve dialogue and understanding, findsynergies,andharnesstheextractiveindustriesfordevelopmentinsub-SaharanAfricatothebenefitofthecountries and communities that ownthem.

Acknowledgments

Theauthorandworkshoporganiser,JamesMcQuilken,wouldliketothanktheEconomicandSocialResearchCouncilfor sponsoring the event via their South-East Doctoral Training Centre. All the presenters and delegates for their participationand impassioneddiscussions,andinparticular,guestspeakerStephenOkyere(Atta)forsharinghisexperiencesaswellas panellists1 Dr Juliana Stoyanova, Adam Smith International; Donald Bray, Chalkstone Limited; Dr Daniel Franks, UNDPACP- EUNeglectedDevelopmentMineralsProgramme;JosephWilliams,NaturalResourceGovernanceInstitute;andDrPeter Oakley, Royal College of Art for their insights. A final and important thank you also goes to Professor Gavin Hilson,Angelique Gatsinzi,JoshuaSandin,DaudaSuleman,JenniferRatnayakaandChris Rzechorzekfortheirsupportwith deliveringtheevent.

JamesMcQuilken,WorkshopOrganiser,ExtractiveIndustriesPhDResearcher,|@J_McQuilken

List ofParticipants

Name / Organisation
Dr AbigailHilson / Royal Holloway, University ofLondon
Aflah AlShaqsi / University ofSurrey
AlexanderMalden / S&P Global MarketIntelligence
AngeliqueGatsinzi / University ofSurrey
DaudaSuleman / University ofSurrey
DonaldBray / ChalkstoneLimited
Dr DanielFranks / UNDP
DylanMcFarlane / Camborne School of Mines,UniversityofExeter
ElizabethKoomson / University ofMichigan
EuniceAdu-Darko / Central University,Ghana
FillipWorsdell / University ofSurrey
Professor GavinHilson / University ofSurrey
HenryAkinola / University ofSurrey
JamesLesser / HSBC
JamesMitchell / University ofBath
JamesMcQuilken / University ofSurrey
JosephWilliams / Natural Resource GovernanceInstitute
JonDibben / Jon Dibben JewelleryDesigner
Jorge TarifaFernández / Universidad deAlmería
JoshuaSandin / Royal Holloway, University ofLondon
JoshRead / Camborne School of Mines,UniversityofExeter
JulianaStoyanova / Adam SmithInternational
KateSymons / University ofEdinburgh
MaameKyerewaaBrobbey / Graduate InstituteGeneva
MatthewMcKernan / IndependentConsultant
MohammadAbdullah / University ofSurrey
MollieGleiberman / University ofAntwerp
Dr NataliaYakovleva / Newcastle University,London
NoraSadler / Royal Holloway, University ofLondon
PatriceBois / Technip
Dr PendaDiallo / University ofEdinburgh
Dr PeterOakley / Royal College ofArt
RosannaCarver / University ofLancaster
Dr RoyMaconachie / University ofBath
SarahCaven / Consultant ExplorationGeologist
Stephen Okyere(Atta) / Chief ASM FieldworkAdvisor
WouterBam / StellenboschUniversity
YorbanaSeigh-Goura / University ofNeuchatel