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The Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), joined over 500 delegates from the private sector, government, CSOs and affected communities at the 14th edition Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI 2023) which was held in Cape Town, from 7 to 9 February 2023.
AMI 2023 sought to facilitate engagements among participants to expand the voice of African citizenry to demand policy reforms, transparency and accountability and responsible supply chains in the mining sector for the benefit of current and future generations.
Taking stock, TJNA’s Policy Officer for Tax and Natural Resource Governance Mukupa Nsendeluka, noted that the meeting challenged African communities to reclaim back their power, unlock their potential, and execute the mandate to hold businesses and governments accountable for people-centered sustainable alternatives around the extractives sector.
TJNA, in collaboration with the Stop the Bleeding Campaign, the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and Oxfam in Kenya convened a side session titled ‘the Africa Mining Vision and the Energy Transition’. The session deliberated on how Africa can leverage domestic resource mobilization for value addition, sector linkages, job creation and overall participation across the extractive value chain.
During the session, participants called for accountability and transparency on mining contracts. Panelists noted the importance of holding governments accountable for the effective administration of tax revenues and, more widely, good public financial management. Accountability and transparency are highlighted as key factors for the domestication of the AMV and re-evaluating how it can best benefit African nations.
In addition to an engagement session, TJNA together with the Stop the Bleeding Campaign and Oxfam in Kenya, also launched a paper on “Fiscal policy notes on Mining in Liberia, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia.” The paper explores gaps, challenges, key lessons, and good practices on optimizing revenue collection from the mining sectors in Liberia, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia.
Having assessed the four countries against the African Minerals Governance Framework (AMGF), the report shows that the mix of measures highlighted in the AMV needs to be implemented holistically with a coordinated approach for the ambitious targets to be met. The assessment further finds that fiscal regimes are vulnerable to profit shifting due to the non-transparency of tax exemptions related to the mining sector.
The AMI is an annual event implemented every year in Cape Town, South Africa, providing a space to discuss more solution-oriented strategies to ensure community representations and participation in decision-making, at all levels, in respective national contexts.
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