The ROAPE-sponsored conference on ‘State, Mining and Development in Africa’ which was held from 13-14 September 2007 at the University of Leeds brought together more than 100 activists and academics from Africa, Europe and North America to explore three key themes: what lessons have been learnt from the ‘resource curse’ days of the 70s, 80s and 90s; what opportunities for resource-led growth have emerged in the 21st century; and what resistance exists within the continent to the continuing politics of dispossession and primitive accumulation that has characterised much resource extraction? One third of the conference residents over the two days were from overseas and 20% from Africa. The significant Africa representation was secured by a British Academy grant as well as collaboration with Third World Network - Africa (TWN) based in Accra, Ghana, which helped facilitate a grant from Oxfam-Novib to bring African based academics and activists to Leeds.
The conference had thirteen working sessions over two days, divided into four broad discussion themes: capitalism and mining; mining and development; comparative experiences of the resource curse, mining regulation and the state, and resistance. There were also two plenary sessions over the two days. The first of these was delivered by Dr. Yao Graham from Third World Network -Africa who spoke directly to the title of the conference, ‘The State, Mining and Development in Africa’. The second plenary involved a comparative discussion of regional development and mineral led growth in the Middle East and North Africa given by Dr. Ali Kadri from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. The African Studies Association of the UK also invited Tim Murithi from Kenya, to present the Mary Kingsley Zochonis Lecture which was entitled ‘Under-Mining Africa: The Illicit Trade in Natural Resources and its impact on Peace-building and Development’.
Diverse case studies from Ghana, Sudan, Zambia, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Chad, Burkina Faso and Nigeria were discussed in the working sessions. In his presentation, Cyril Obi explored the ramifications of the entry of Chinese state oil companies into the volatile Niger Delta (Nigeria) for the politics of local resistance in the region. He addressed the theoretical issues that emerge from the ‘globalisation’ of Chinese oil capital leading to inequitable and volatile social relations in African oil producing ‘locales’, particularly the restive Niger Delta with its history of local resistance to western oil majors. His analysis also examined the likely response of the Chinese oil companies to the perceived threat(s) that such local resistance could pose to their extractive, profit and energy security interests, given antecedents in other African new oil states, particularly Sudan, where Chinese companies were targeted by rebels, and were deeply involved with the state and dominant elite in mining oil and repressing local resistance. The Nigerian oil industry was further explored by Wilson Akpan. He adopted a sociological view in his analysis of joint venture petroleum production in Nigeria, reflecting on the tensions between the economic and social dimensions of the joint venture relationship. He argued that a new phase is emerging in the relationship between the Nigerian state and private petroleum companies - one in which questions of socio-ecological sustainability will increasingly become as important for the two parties as the economics and politics of joint ventures have been over the years.
Drawing upon case study analysis from Ghana, John Childs critically examined the potential benefits of reorganising the artisanal gold mining sector according to the principles of fair trade, as well as the challenges of bringing such an initiative to fruition. He highlighted the importance of understanding the artisanal gold mining poverty cycle and questioned whether fair trade's emphasis on the producer-consumer interface conceptualises artisanal gold mining adequately.
Sierra Leone diamonds also featured in the working sessions. Tunde Zack-Williams’ analysis looked at the relationship between diamond mining, the rural economy and the war in Sierra Leone. He drew attention to how political legitimacy during the war was ensured not by strengthening state institutions, but by gradually building support through patron-client relationships fuelled by revenues from diamonds. The fortification of this ‘shadow state’ meant that no serious attempt was made by successive governments in Sierra Leone to develop a modern state that would encompass respect for the constitution and the rule of law, and that would guarantee not just the legitimacy of the ruling elite, but also the sovereignty of the state. Sabine Luning moved the debate to Burkina Faso. She explored how liberalisation of the gold mining sector has affected working arrangements of artisanal goldminers in Burkina Faso. She demonstrated how the presence of (international) goldmining companies works out for different categories of miners and how their working relations are best understood in connection with international companies and the political and economic agents they rely on as facilitators and mediators.
Focusing on East Africa, Luke Anthony Patey moved beyond an examination of the influence of oil companies on armed conflict and analysed the determining factors of corporate behaviour in Sudan.
His analysis suggested that the strategic behaviour of international oil companies in war-torn Sudan has overwhelmingly been driven by political pressures from governments. The authority and power of governments is the essential factor opening and closing doors for oil companies in conflict-affected Sudan. Both the corporate behaviour of market-driven, western oil companies and their para-statal counterparts from Asia are guided by the positioning of states towards their operations.
The debate on Sudanese natural resources was taken further by Aisha Hommaida in her presentation. She examined how historical marginalisation and new marginalisation, driven by the processes of contemporary globalisation, has necessitated the continued exploitation of resources in the Red Sea region for the benefit of international interests, while the people of this region continue to suffer loss of land, inequality and hunger. Her analysis suggested that these historical and modern forces which have led to the marginalisation of indigenous people in the Red Sea region partly explain the rise of grassroots resistance by the Beja people. Issues related to growing support of the Beja Congress were analysed in the context of growing demands for greater representation in political life and a greater share of eastern Sudan wealth.
In Southern Africa, John Lungu examined the relationship between socio-economic justice and natural resource exploitation in Zambia, raising questions about corporate responsibilities and the obligations of government and multinational corporations. He assessed the labour, social, and environmental practices of the new mining companies in Zambia and their impact on mining communities. Focusing on South Africa, Suzanne Dansereau argued that for mining to enhance its contribution to development, it must not only minimise harm on indigenous communities and the environment, but should also become integrated into the local and regional economy so as to create backward and forward linkages in a permanent, diversified and thus sustainable local community. It must also organise production around a labour utilisation model based on high wages and high skills, rather than the model so frequently used that favours low wages and low skill levels. At the same time, it must invest in significant training, not only to ensure health and safety, but make training available to local communities so members can access all mining jobs, including skilled ones.
Overall, it was reported by participants and by funders who attended, and subsequently via African study networks in the UK and overseas, that the conference met its aims and objectives. Two future meetings are now being planned to pursue the conference agenda and linked themes in Accra, Ghana 2008 and later in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Selected papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 35, No. 116, September 2008. Additionally, the conference provided the opportunity for participants to get to know the Review of African Political Economy, to meet its editors and to discuss opportunities for future collaboration and networking.