Governing with or against the grain? Challenges confronting African governments and foreign players in Africa’s extractives sector

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article introduces a special issue which contributes to the governance debates pertaining to the extractive sector in Africa, where the EU seeks a major role. Better governance is clearly required to meet the objectives of the Africa Mining Vision and the EU’s Raw Materials Initiative; however, there is growing recognition that better formal regulations on paper will not necessarily result in better outcomes on the ground. Greater awareness of the potential unintended negative consequences of some governance initiatives is necessary. Companies involved in natural resource extraction in African countries must consider their roles in the governance question in far deeper terms than mere corporate social responsibility or attaining a social licence to operate. Similarly, at the EU level, more attention has to be paid to what happens beyond efforts to create greater levels of transparency, especially in the effort to stop illicit financial flows.