Mining Activities In Africa Research Articles

The Mining Code for Prospecting Exploration and Exploitation in Maritime Domain: Experimenting the Regional Environmental Plans

The Seabed Mining is a growing maritime industrial field that involves the extraction of submerged minerals and deposits from the ocean and over the years, there has been a rising demand for minerals and metals in various sectors of the Maritime Industry. This led to the creation of the International Seabed Authority of 1982 which is saddled with the responsibilities of regulating human activities on the deep-sea floor and the continental shelf. Despite the existence of the regulatory body, there are challenges that are present within the organs of the International Seabed Authority. These challenges include lack of transparency and also the impact of the deep seabed mining activities on the environment that still need to be extensively researched before deep seabed mining activities can commence in the World Maritime Economy. This research adopted a doctrinal method of research to collect data through the use of Law textbooks, articles in journals, and various online resources. The aim of this paper is to discuss the benefits of deep seabed mining, the regulatory frameworks of deep seabed mining, the impacts of deep seabed mining on the environment, deep seabed mining activities in Africa and Nigeria. It was concluded in this paper that before the deep seabed mining activities can commence, it is necessary that wide and extensive research be carried out on its effect on the environment, the various organs in International Seabed Authority should be more transparent on their activities to the public and African States particularly Nigeria should organise workshops to educate the Maritime Industry of various states about the involvement and participation of African countries in the deep seabed mining activities like their counterparts in other countries of the World.

Africa Focussed Mining Conferences: An Overview and Analysis

Despite the African continent having extensive mineral wealth much desired by industrialized nations it is also a region rife with poverty and under-development and there is little evidence that it has benefited from these resources. Beginning in the early the 2000s the price of major minerals, especially copper and gold, rose to new heights (with the exception of the 2008/2009 Global Financial Crisis slump). These price rises created greatly increased global interest in the continent's extensive mineral wealth and enabled many new mining activities in Africa to be initiated. While some corporate mining conferences had been held in earlier years their numbers increased concurrently with the greatly increased level of exploration and mining activities. They included national, regional and international events and also some with mineral specific foci. During the same period civil society-based movements concerned about the negative social impact of mining, and being part of a bigger global movement, also became increasingly active.

Trees for development? Articulating the ambiguities of power, authority and legitimacy in governing Ghana’s mineral rich forests

The growth of mining activities in Africa in the last decade has coincided with increased attention on the fate of the continent’s forests, specifically in the contexts of livelihoods and climate change. Although mining has serious environmental impacts, scant attention has been paid to the processes which shape decision-making in contexts where minerals and forests overlap. Focussing on the illustrative case of Ghana, this paper articulates the dynamics of power, authority and legitimacy of private companies, traditional authorities and key state institutions in governing mining activities in forests. The analysis highlights how mining companies and donors promote a neoliberal model of resource management which entrenches their ability to benefit from mineral exploitation and marginalises the role of state institutions and traditional authorities in decision-making. This subsequently erodes state authority and legitimacy and compounds the contested nature of traditional authorities’ legitimacy. A more nuanced examination of foundational governance questions concerning the relative role of the state, traditional authorities and private interests is needed.

Good Governance, Security and Mining in Africa1

Using as a point of departure the observations contained in the document ‘Our Common Interest. Report of the Commission for Africa (March 2005)’, Chapter 5: “Countries with economies dependent on one or a few primary commodities, particularly high‐value resources such as oil and other minerals, are often poor, have weak and less accountable governance systems, and are more vulnerable to violent conflict and economic shocks”, the article sets out to explore the broader trends and specific conditions which might help explain why mining activities in Africa may well be at present and increasingly in the future, linked to issues of security. To this end the paper explores various hypotheses which have been put forward such as the following: • an overly externally driven reform process may well have contributed to undermining the legitimacy of the governments of mineral rich countries concerned. • economic reforms, and mining policies more specifically, have perhaps not sufficiently contributed to building eff...