Poisoned chalice or opportunity for positive impact? an analysis of the impact of ‘inherited’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments in Kenya's titanium mining industry✰

Abstract

This paper critically examines the issue of ‘inherited Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) in the mining industry, specifically in the mining of ‘solid’ minerals. It focuses on the case of titanium mining in Kwale County (Kenya), a region plagued with agonising poverty, weak mining policies and laws, issues of historical land injustices, corruption, combined with weak governance. It examines the case of Base Titanium and its CSR activities in Kwale and provides an in-depth analysis of the fate of CSR programmes when mining concerns change hands. This paper follows up on the call for more research into the matter of ‘inherited CSR’ in the mining of ‘solid’ minerals in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper faults the lack of community participation in the choice, prioritisation, design and implementation of the various CSR programmes as the critical missing element that would have otherwise minimised conflict over CSR projects in Kwale.