TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR UEMOA MEMBER STATES OFFICIALS REGARDING THE OPTIMIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMIES PARTICIPATING IN THE MINING SECTOR'S VALUE CHAIN

The report details a September 2017 training workshop for UEMOA officials focused on maximizing the socioeconomic benefits of the mining sector. Key modules covered global value chains, the development of legal frameworks for local content, employment and training, and the impact of increasing mechanization. The workshop emphasized that local content cannot be achieved by decree but requires integrated national and regional policies, inclusive stakeholder consultation, and the anticipation of technological shifts that may reduce low-skilled jobs. Recommendations include strengthening national local content policies, creating regional frameworks for training and processing facilities, and exercising caution when signing bilateral investment treaties that might limit a state's ability to impose performance requirements.

• Increasing local participation in the extractive sector is argued to have a more significant impact on poverty reduction and sustainable development than the collection of state taxes and fees.
• Effective legal frameworks for local content should be based on predefined national policies developed through inclusive consultation and should include specific, flexible, and reportable requirements.
• To address local employment constraints, it is recommended to integrate mining-related courses into non-mining higher education and establish regional specialized schools to avoid over-training technicians beyond sector demand.
• Local content success depends on identifying competitive niches in the value chain and removing barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises through negotiation with mining companies, rather than relying on decrees.
• Accelerating mechanization in industrial mining may reduce low- or lesser-skilled jobs held by host-country nationals by up to 70 per cent in some scenarios, posing a risk to the 'social licence to operate'.
• Regarding infrastructure financing, the creation of a sovereign fund is identified as the most transparent and lowest-risk option, while the 'mine-versus-infrastructure' option was unanimously rejected by participants.
• Bilateral investment protection and promotion treaties can hinder the implementation of local content requirements, leading to the recommendation that states be cautious when negotiating such binding agreements.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2017). TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR UEMOA MEMBER STATES OFFICIALS REGARDING THE OPTIMIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMIES PARTICIPATING IN THE MINING SECTOR'S VALUE CHAIN. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/uemoa-training-workshop-burkina-faso-sep-2017-en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR UEMOA MEMBER STATES OFFICIALS REGARDING THE OPTIMIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMIES PARTICIPATING IN THE MINING SECTOR'S VALUE CHAIN. 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/uemoa-training-workshop-burkina-faso-sep-2017-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR UEMOA MEMBER STATES OFFICIALS REGARDING THE OPTIMIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMIES PARTICIPATING IN THE MINING SECTOR'S VALUE CHAIN |date=2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/uemoa-training-workshop-burkina-faso-sep-2017-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2017training, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR UEMOA MEMBER STATES OFFICIALS REGARDING THE OPTIMIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMIES PARTICIPATING IN THE MINING SECTOR'S VALUE CHAIN}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/uemoa-training-workshop-burkina-faso-sep-2017-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }