Managing Local Community Development Related to the Mining Industry: A workshop for WAEMU member states

This report describes a workshop held from July 1 to 5, 2019, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, focused on managing community development related to the mining industry for member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Organized by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) and the WAEMU Commission, the event aimed to improve the use of mining local development funds (MLDFs) and other community development tools.

• The workshop focused on the mining local development fund (MLDF) as a primary tool for community development, which is preferred by several WAEMU member states. While the operationalization of these funds has been described as "slow and laborious", the process is nearing completion in Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. In contrast, Benin, Niger, and Mali have not yet established MLDFs in their legislation and instead use alternative mechanisms such as voluntary funds, contractual requirements, or the transfer of income shares to municipalities.
• Municipal representatives from Togo, Senegal, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Benin identified significant challenges regarding MLDFs, specifically the lack of timely resource transfers to local governments and difficulties in collaboration between central governments and municipalities during the implementation of community and social investments.
• Analysis of local content policies using Kinross Gold Corp. as a case study revealed that West African mines have low levels of "local local" procurement (procurement from the immediate mining area) and limited access for local populations to administrative and technical roles compared to the company's mines in other regions, such as Chile.
• The workshop evaluated four primary tools for community development: MLDFs (state-regulated funds), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Community Development Agreements (CDAs), and fiscal redistribution to local governments. While fiscal redistribution was exemplified by Peru's transfer of corporate income tax to communities, the report notes that outcomes there remained mixed and conflicts in mining areas paradoxically worsened.
• Participants identified four priority principles for community development within the WAEMU space: the transparency and accessibility of contributions, transparency in the management and use of resources, monitoring and evaluation of outcomes, and alignment with the priorities of the community or local development plans.
• The mining industry, represented by SEMAFO, expressed concerns regarding administrative burdens and the tendency for grievances to be directed at companies rather than being resolved by MLDFs. SEMAFO indicated it would continue CSR actions but would redirect them toward capacity building and the creation of micro-enterprises.
• Through a scenario-based exercise, workshop participants reached a consensus that the ideal community development tool is an MLDF combined either with voluntary CSR plans from mining companies or with mandatory Community Development Agreements (CDAs).

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2019). Managing Local Community Development Related to the Mining Industry: A workshop for WAEMU member states. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/igf-workshop-burkina-faso-2019-en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Managing Local Community Development Related to the Mining Industry: A workshop for WAEMU member states. 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/igf-workshop-burkina-faso-2019-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Managing Local Community Development Related to the Mining Industry: A workshop for WAEMU member states |date=2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/igf-workshop-burkina-faso-2019-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2019managing, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Managing Local Community Development Related to the Mining Industry: A workshop for WAEMU member states}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/igf-workshop-burkina-faso-2019-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }