What is the focus of this GGA Programme?
Articles from this programme
Kenneth Kaunda – his choices, legacy and shadow
“History is not the soil in which happiness grows. The periods of happiness in it are the blank pages of history.” – Hegel
Zambia – debt relief through structural reform, in an election year
Zambia seeks debt relief while in the throes of its August 2021 election campaign Zambia has a long, complex relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In November 2020, it defaulted...
Sustainable investing in Africa must prioritise social governance
Social performance ripples out to create stable communities and economies The concept of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance entails three factors that have historically been...
Measuring up: where is ESG performance in extractives?
Over the last five years, a growing global movement has made considerable efforts to address key issues related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in various industries....
A road map for reversing the resource curse
For many African countries, Covid-19 has provided a useful cover for leaders to advance authoritarian ends, consolidate their autocracies and undermine whatever rule of law existed before. This seems especially true for ruling coalitions in countries with access to mineral or hydrocarbon wealth.
Overturning the injustices of development economics in resource extraction
Is there a convincing reason why communities who host resource extraction projects in their ecosystems are not considered investors in development economics? Is it fair or just to think that, in welcoming and hosting mining, oil and gas companies into their ecosystems, local communities have nothing to lose but everything to gain?
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Natural Resource Governance
Our Natural Resource Governance team is committed to reversing the ‘resource curse’ – the paradoxical relationship between natural resource wealth (minerals and hydrocarbons especially) and underdevelopment. It turns out that institutional quality is the key determining factor for resource wealth to translate into broad-based development. We therefore aim to build institutions underpinned by transparency and accountability in the extractives industry. To these ends, we advocate for the implementation of the Africa Mining Vision in each mining jurisdiction across the continent.
The programme ensures that the various disparate attempts at improving extractive industry governance on the continent are better coordinated to gain maximum traction. Our NRG team works closely with the GIA team to produce our monthly Intelligence Reports, as the mining industry is a key element of our target audience.
We specialise in enhancing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance for mining industry and related firms doing business in Africa. We differentiate ourselves by not only providing ESG improvement insights but also by being an independent broker between the private sector and African governments.
Our NRG programme provides politically workable, regional solutions that connect mining with green industrialisation. The continent, on average, is facing ‘premature deindustrialisation’ and associated extreme youth unemployment. As new technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution advance, mining will no longer be a large employer, and this poses significant governance challenges that we specialise in helping governments and firms to navigate.
New technologies allow for mining to be both safer and less environmentally invasive. This allows for higher margins, creating wealth that should serve as a catalyst for connecting mining to other sectors of the economy. These connected sectors can feasibly be developed to tap into global value chains, especially those that feed the fourth industrial revolution, and specifically the energy and transport revolutions within that domain.
