“As beauty is only skin-deep, so too is growth”. So Joe Amoako-Kuffour began the Brussels launch of the Africa Transformation Report by ACET (African Centre for Economic Transformation) last week. “Growth may be good, but it must be accompanied by economic transformation”. This is nicely put but relatively uncontroversial. But where ACET have done rather well, both in providing analysis and extending the metaphor, is in coming up with five measures of economic transformation that translate into DEPTH: Diversification; Export competitiveness; Productivity; Technology; and Human welfare. By providing measures of these five areas for those ...
The Economist magazine has an amusing article that does the rounds from time to time that translates what a native english speaker says (e.g. “that’s not bad”), what the listener understands (“that’s good or very good”) and what the speaker meant (“that’s poor or mediocre”). This was brought to mind while moderating a recent EC consultation with CSOs and the private sector. This was an important opportunity for both private sector representatives and civil society to provide concrete inputs into the EC’s forthcoming communication that will guide how they, and to a certain degree EU ...
Taxes and fragile states – how political can it get? The 2014 OECD report on Domestic Resource Mobilization in Fragile States is an interesting - and paradoxical - example of the current debate on statebuilding. Linking domestic resource mobilisation and fragile states is a very welcome approach, and the political thinking driving it is just what is needed in development debates. But by relying on assumptions about fragile states that are optimistic at the best of times, means this report falls short of expectation. Taxation was once considered a mainly technical issue – but effective ...
Constructive talks between mining companies and development actors do take place, but mainly in “the margin”. In a literal sense, as business and governments met in confined rooms around the main conference halls at Mining Indaba in Cape Town last week, to discuss potential deals. There, discussions were constructive, between those courting and those being courted (with roles switching depending on the company and country). Outside Mining Indaba, talks with trade unions to stop platinum strikes were on going, with no agreement on a new (wage) deal. Not surprisingly, at Mining Indaba, South African (branches ...
Mining companies, African governments and civil society organisations seem to live in parallel worlds that rarely meet. When they do, as in African Mining Indaba last week, it is mostly in the margins, and what is said often seems lost in translation. They will all be worse off by missing out the big picture, which is that the extractive sector should play a pivotal role in the industrialisation and economic transformation of Africa for more inclusive and sustainable growth. This was confirmed once more at the 20th annual Investing in Africa Mining Indaba gathering of ...
In Part 1 of this blog I said that one of the main points that came out of the Mining Indaba Conference from the 3rd to the 6th February 2014 in Cape Town centred around the question of shared value, and the role the industry should play in this endeavour. To achieve results that are truly sustainable and inclusive, it is imperative that the value is shared and created in an equitable manner: Created because the current model of mining economies, too often characterised by an enclave sector with little diversification simply does not work to ...
As resource-rich countries continue to enjoy high growth rates, the time has come to think about what collaborative business relationships can finally do for inclusive and sustainable development. From 3 – 6 February 2014, 8,000 people converged on Cape Town to attend the 20th edition of the Mining Indaba Conference. Much of the discussion centred around the question of shared value and the role the industry should play in this endeavour. In the first section of this two-part blog I discuss why shared value is the key to manage the relationship between governments and mining companies. In part two, I highlight the precisely the ...
So that African countries can continue the path of economic transformation, the role of the mining sector needs to be enhanced. Besides pure mining activities, there is vast potential to create spatial and economic spillover effects, using the businesses and services opportunities that operate around mining activities. While large business activities have been quite successful in connecting to mining value chains, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the capacities or technology to tap the full potential out of such activities. To fill in this gap, is there a role for a business-to-business platform that ...
While the debate on Scottish independence is heating up prior to the referendum in September 2014, it is important to consider what implications an independent Scotland would have for UK and European development aid. While the UK aid would undoubtedly be affected, this new donor country would need to make an effort to minimize the effect on further aid fragmentation. Scottish independence would lead to more fragmentation of European development cooperation and a major reduction in Department for International Development (DFID) programmes as a result of an estimated GBP 1 billion cut in its budget, ...
The 3rd Ordinary Session of the African Union Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development between 13-17 December 2013 in Maputo, Mozambique, under the title Leveraging the Africa Mining Vision for Africa’s Renaissance Towards Broader Ownership, intended to address important issues related to the development of mineral resources on the African continent. The main purpose was to identify and design strategies and policies of mineral resources through the African Mining Vision (AMV), adopted by Heads of State at the February 2009 AU Summit. Particular importance during the conference has been attached to the ...
