West African states should leverage the rising international demand for vital minerals to drive the sub-region’s growth, the Built-in Social Growth Centre (ISODEC) has urged.
In keeping with the civil society organisation, the rising demand for minerals akin to cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and uncommon earth components, key inputs for low-carbon applied sciences, introduced a big alternative for industrialisation throughout West Africa.
ISODEC made the decision in a communiqué issued on the finish of the Excessive-Degree West Africa Convention on Fairness in Extraction: Addressing Inequalities in Pure Useful resource Governance, Crucial Minerals and Local weather Change, held in Accra.
The three-day convention, convened in partnership with IDEAs and the Nationwide Growth Planning Fee, with help from the Ford Basis, introduced collectively lecturers, policymakers, labour representatives, civil society actors and conventional authorities to deliberate on how Africa’s mineral wealth might be harnessed extra equitably and sustainably.
Contributors noticed that the hovering international demand for vital minerals gives each alternatives and dangers for West African nations.
Whereas the minerals are central to the worldwide shift in the direction of renewable power, longstanding governance gaps, weak environmental protections and inequitable income distribution proceed to undermine the area’s potential to learn from its huge sources.
Local weather change, they warned, additional heightens vulnerabilities and complicates the governance of extractive industries.
Reaffirming the sovereign rights of states to handle their pure sources, the convention delegates adopted a set of rules to information nationwide and regional motion.
These embrace selling fairness and intergenerational equity, guaranteeing transparency and accountability, embedding rights-based governance that respects Free, Prior and Knowledgeable Consent (FPIC), and safeguarding environmental integrity.
The communiqué additionally underscored the significance of regional cooperation to curb illicit monetary flows, harmonise authorized frameworks and maximise collective advantages.
Amongst a raft of suggestions was the pressing want for West African governments to develop or replace nationwide mineral methods that combine local weather resilience, set clear targets for worth addition, and set up equitable fiscal regimes.
The delegates emphasised that mineral extraction should help industrial growth, expertise switch and abilities enhancement reasonably than perpetuate dependency on uncooked mineral exports.
On artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), the convention known as for inclusive formalisation processes that present miners with technical help, security requirements, market entry and gender-responsive help.
Contributors famous the necessity for sturdy grievance mechanisms, enforceable neighborhood profit agreements, and an outlined share of mineral revenues devoted to native growth funds specializing in schooling, well being, livelihoods and local weather adaptation.
To strengthen accountability, the communiqué urged ECOWAS and the African Union to speed up efforts towards a regional traceability mechanism for vital minerals. Member States had been inspired to publish contracts, revenues and environmental monitoring information as a part of strengthened transparency measures.
The convention additionally beneficial the institution of a West Africa Steering Committee on Equitable Mineral Governance to coordinate implementation, monitor progress and put together annual experiences. Delegates additional known as for regional centres of excellence to help technical coaching, environmental monitoring, geological information administration and contract negotiation.
ISODEC and its companions burdened that the governance of vital minerals would considerably form West Africa’s financial transformation and its position within the international power transition.
They urged the African Union, ECOWAS, Member States, growth companions and personal sector actors to behave swiftly and collaboratively to make sure that the area’s mineral wealth delivers sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient growth for current and future generations.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
