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J
ust
, P
e aceful
and
I
nclusi v e
S
ocieties
natural resources. The AMV has at its heart the goal to bring
about a “transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation
of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustain-
able growth and socio-economic development.”
2
The AMV
provides an implementable path for countries to onboard its
fundamental pillars into their approach to mining (see box
on opposite page). Importantly, the AMV represents a para-
digm shift as the only African-owned agenda for mineral use
that puts cooperation, development, linkages and positive
spillover effects above simple extraction and revenue.
As African countries emulate the AMV in their national
policy environment, the consistencies between this and
other development frameworks provide policy makers with
opportunities to streamline their efforts towards mutually
beneficial and reinforcing goals. For example, the many
shared traits between the AMV and the SDGs include: SDG
8 on decent work and economic growth through linkages and
diversification; SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastruc-
ture; and SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions to
address mineral governance, Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs)
and rights for local communities. The elements of domes-
tic financial resource mobilization and illicit flows from the
mineral sector inherent in the AMV also overlap with the
mandate of the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action and outcomes
of the Mbeki High Level Panel on IFFs. Indeed, in highlight-
ing the importance of responsible, nationally-owned and
inclusive use of natural resources to spur transformation,
the AMV served as a precursor to many of these frameworks.
AMV progress realized with coordination from the
African Minerals Development Centre
The African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) was
established in 2013 as custodian of the AMV, in order to
assist African member states with implementation and
mainstreaming in national frameworks. AMDC support is
demand-driven based on requests and needs of member states
and thus takes many forms in response to context specifici-
ties. This can include technical support, capacity building,
assistance with political and governance aspects of the AMV,
and other areas. This variety of flexible support in adopting
the AMV is coordinated as a comprehensive Country Mining
Vision (CMV) for each country with which the AMDC
engages. AMDC operates along a structure of seven work-
streams, directly relating to the pillars of the AMV, and has
worked in over half of all AU member States. AMDC support
is resulting in practical implementation of the AMV and, by
extension, progress towards the SDGs in a number of specific
initiatives, a snapshot of which are detailed here:
Identifying opportunities for economic linkages, value addition and
regional value chains
While the need for mineral-based industrialization is well
acknowledged, the specific means to build this requires
thorough empirical analysis and recognition of the politi-
cal economy of the sector, country and region in question.
Indeed, a delicate coordination is needed of all the activi-
ties that will foster such linkages, including infrastructure
investments, skilling of labour, agglomeration of producers
through economic clusters, facilitation of business connec-
tions and incentivizing of production and investment flows,
amongst others. In recognition of this, AMDC is increasingly
providing analysis and identification of linkage and produc-
tion potential as a part of its CMV guidance. One example of
this is support to Ghana to establish a supplier development
programme which will identify upstream inputs that can be
produced domestically to service both the well-established
mining sector and other established and rising industries,
and the investments needed to enable local suppliers to
produce these. Given the scale and history of gold extrac-
tion in Ghana, and the mostly untapped potential in bauxite,
manganese and iron ore, AMDC is advocating a transfor-
mation of the vicious cycle wherein mining activities yield
raw exports and consume manufactured imports into a
virtuous circle of mineral outputs being harnessed for use
in construction, industry, metal working and other activi-
ties, the outputs of which can then serve as local inputs into
domestic and regional mining. Regarding this regional lens,
ongoing consultations with the government are also address-
ing the role of regional integration and trade in linking with
neighbouring markets throughout ECOWAS. Indeed, domes-
tic demand for and production of such items may be too small
to incentivize investments and reach efficient economies of
scale, but pooling national markets can allow for this critical
Minerals as a percentage of GDP and exports,
select African countries
Country
Series
2014 value
Madagascar
Mineral rents (% of GDP)
3.51
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
36.82
Mauritania
Mineral rents (% of GDP)
27.58
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
59.51
Morocco
Mineral rents (% of GDP)
1.92
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
7.88
Mozambique Mineral rents (% of GDP)
0.03
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
34.43
Tanzania
Mineral rents (% of GDP)
2.39
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
17.36
Zambia
Mineral rents (% of GDP)
12.81
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
78.16
Zimbabwe
Mineral rents (% of GDP)
3.83
Ores and metals exports (%
of merchandise exports)
24.5
Source: Authors’ Calculations based on World Bank WDI 2017