No mine is an island: shared infrastructure for social benefit in the African extractives industry

The document examines the historical tendency of extractive companies in Africa to build exclusive 'island mode' infrastructure, which limits integration with host economies and reinforces the 'resource curse'. It advocates for a transition toward shared-use infrastructure—such as power, rail, and ports—to convert natural resource depletion into broader societal assets. The author suggests that while 70% of resource infrastructure investment could be shared among operators and another 30% with the public, achieving this requires stronger local governance, new internal corporate competencies in socio-economic development, and government incentives like tax offsets to compensate companies for the costs of open access.

• Extractive companies have historically used an 'enclave approach' to infrastructure, building private water, power, and transport services that are not integrated with national economies, which contributes to the 'resource curse'.
• A significant portion of resource-related infrastructure investment is potentially shareable: 70% could be shared between different operators (particularly power and pipelines), and 30% could be shared with the general public.
• The lack of infrastructure is a primary deterrent to investment in Africa, with sub-Saharan Africa facing an infrastructure funding gap of $31 billion between 2006 and 2016.
• Mining companies often resist sharing infrastructure without regulatory pressure due to competitive concerns, such as the desire to maintain monopoly power to acquire further concessions or to restrict market supply.
• To move toward sustainable impact, extractive companies need to develop internal expertise in fields previously rare in the sector, including political economy analysis, human geography, and advanced stakeholder engagement.
• Governments can encourage shared-use infrastructure by offering fiscal incentives, such as reducing taxes to offset the costs companies incur by providing excess capacity or multi-user access.
• In South Africa, the government's emergency policy allowing private companies to generate up to 100 MW of electricity without a licence provides an opportunity for extractive companies to support the national grid and the Just Energy Transition (JET).

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2021). No mine is an island: shared infrastructure for social benefit in the African extractives industry. https://saiia.org.za/research/no-mine-is-an-island-shared-infrastructure-for-social-benefit-in-the-african-extractives-industry/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. No mine is an island: shared infrastructure for social benefit in the African extractives industry. 2021. https://saiia.org.za/research/no-mine-is-an-island-shared-infrastructure-for-social-benefit-in-the-african-extractives-industry/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=No mine is an island: shared infrastructure for social benefit in the African extractives industry |date=28 September 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/no-mine-is-an-island-shared-infrastructure-for-social-benefit-in-the-african-extractives-industry/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2021mine, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{No mine is an island: shared infrastructure for social benefit in the African extractives industry}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/no-mine-is-an-island-shared-infrastructure-for-social-benefit-in-the-african-extractives-industry/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }