Mining in Africa after the supercycle: New directions and geographies

From Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2019-12-20, rev-recd 2021-01-19, accepted 2021-03-16, pub-electronic 2021-05-24Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedFunder: British Academy; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000286; Grant(s): pf130031Funder: Department for International Development; Grant(s): PO 5113Funder: University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science’s Strategy fundFunder: University of Manchester, School of Environment, Education and Development SMining in Africa is at a pivotal moment. For most of the period 2000 to 2012, the extractive industries were in a “supercycle” of sustained high commodity prices. Driven by resource‐intensive growth in emerging market economies, these high commodity prices were anticipated to continue for decades to come. However, this “supercycle” ended in 2012 and there followed a severe slump in mineral prices from 2014 onwards. On the one hand, a new era of commodity market dynamics has begun, with changing patterns of economic activity, minerals governance, and environmental regulation. On the other hand, the end of the supercycle has continued or intensified pre‐existing trends towards mechanisation, automation, and enclavity, while distributive pressures on companies by local communities and host nations increase. We argue that the end of the supercycle has reconfigured the geographies of extraction in ways that are not yet reflected in existing research or taken into consideration in policy implementation, particularly around corporate strategy, state–business relations, and models for mineral‐based development strategies. In this paper we map the terrain of research on the supercycle in Africa and identify emerging post‐supercycle trends – some of which have overtaken research. The paper is structured around examining four themes: (1) new geographies of investment and extraction; (2) new geographies of struggle; (3) national minerals‐based development; and (4) labour and livelihoods, for which we identify key trends during the supercycle and post‐supercycle and areas for future research and policy development

‘Sustainable Mining’? Corporate Social Responsibility, Migration and Livelihood Choices in Zambia

Whilst Corporate Social Responsibility is now part and parcel of many multinational mining operations, and a ‘sustainable mining’ narrative a fundamental part of their public persona, companies still struggle to provide secure, long-term livelihoods for either locals or the swathe of migrants mining attracts. Minimal opportunities in the formal sector leave migrants in particular engaging in informal and illegal activities that offer poor livelihood security. In this paper we examine these activities in Northern Zambia’s emerald mines to highlight some of the issues and barriers to sustainable development that exist across mining zones. We conclude that livelihood choices are not augmented by a so-called ‘sustainable mining’ approach that fails to engage all sectors of the population. We show the numerous challenges faced by migrants in this part of Zambia to accentuate the factors that need to be addressed before favourable environments for fostering sustainable mining might be achieved

Corruption and the extractive industries transparency initiative

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has received much attention as a scheme that can help reduce corruption in mineral-rich developing economies. To our knowledge, this paper provides the first empirical attempt (using panel data) to explore how EITI membership links to changes in corruption levels. We also examine whether the different stages in EITI implementation (initial commitment, candidature, full compliance) influence the pace of changes in corruption. We find that EITI membership offers, on the whole, a shielding mechanism against the general tendency of mineral-rich countries to experience increases in corruption over time

The anthropology of extraction: critical perspectives on the resource curse

Attempts to address the resource curse remain focussed on revenue management, seeking technical solutions to political problems over examinations of relations of power. In this paper, we provide a review of the contribution anthropological research has made over the past decade to understanding the dynamic interplay of social relations, economic interests and struggles over power at stake in the political economy of extraction. In doing so, we show how the constellation of subaltern and elite agency at work within processes of resource extraction is vital in order to confront the complexities, incompatibilities, and inequities in the exploitation of mineral resources