Last month International Alert participated in the conference 'Sharing the benefits of the commodity boom', organised by Mining on Top: Africa in partnership with the Commonwealth Business Council and UK Trade and Investment.
The two-day event, held in London on 25-26 June, brought together key government officials, senior mining representatives, investors and service providers to create greater understanding and improve the social and economic outcomes of mining in Africa.
Zahed Yousuf, from our Economy and Peacebuilding team, participated in a panel discussion on the impacts that resource nationalism, decision processes and changes of leadership can have on the success of mining projects, and how best to navigate them.
Through Alert’s approach of applying conflict and peacebuilding learning to mining operations, Zahed highlighted the complexities of navigating areas affected by conflict, such as considering the effect of predatory states, the lack of institutional capacity to regulate the operational environment, and the potential for mining operations to destabilise fragile political and socio-economic structures.
By emphasising these complexities and promoting the need for companies to adopt a more conflict-sensitive approach to operating in these contexts, Zahed was able to introduce a fresh approach to mitigating risks in areas affected by conflict and the need for governments and companies to focus on the process rather than solely the policies of sustainable natural resource management.
Feedback from the event has so far been very positive and Zahed has been invited to speak at the same conference in 2014.
Photo: A platinum mine in South Africa. Photo by Liane Greeff
