Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) unique and diverse political and security landscapes contain an abundance of challenges for commercial organisations, including those in the mining sector, according to Alert:24, WTW's specialist security and crisis management advisory practice.
In an article posted on WTW’s website, Alert:24 said several countries in SSA, including Cameroon, Namibia, Tanzania, Madagascar, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, have reformed their mining regulations over the past two years while others such as Zambia, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa are reportedly considering changes.
This trend of reforms has been attributed in part to increased demand for the region’s minerals. But it has also been credited to ‘resource nationalism’, which is seeing countries become more protectionist of their minerals to better profit from their increased importance to the global economy.
Resource nationalism adds legislative and bureaucratic challenges
New legislation can require enhanced monitoring and enforcement tools to ensure compliance and security, as well as increased local content obligations. Some of the more comprehensive changes have seen existing mining licences revoked or stakes reduced, leading to more drastic outcomes such as international arbitration cases against governments and drops in share prices.
SSA accounts for around 30% of all known critical mineral reserves, many of which are essential for the 'green transition' that will increasingly define the global economy over the coming decades. These abundant reserves bring with them many opportunities, for both the region itself and those involved in the extraction process.
Operators must account for and mitigate the various obstacles to ensure the safety of personnel and assets, protect their reputations, and foster a positive impact on local environments.
Alert:24 said, “It is imperative that mining companies present within the region develop robust security risk management frameworks to support in-country operations and ensure the protection of their assets and personnel. These security risk management frameworks must be extensive and flexible to allow them to mitigate and respond to the myriad of risks that are present in SSA.
“These security risk management frameworks must be extensive and flexible to allow them to mitigate and respond to the myriad of risks that are present in SSA.”
The Alert:24 article also discusses escalating violence and instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; insecurity in Mozambique which impacts miners and neighbouring states, violent extremists who permeate West Africa; coups that complicate the Sahel’s operational environment; Illicit mining exacerbating insecurity in Ethiopia and kidnappings and nascent risks that challenge operators in South Africa.