Foreign mining companies operating in Africa need to play a more active role in combating violent extremism particularly in the western and eastern parts of the continent, an industry official said on Wednesday.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says violent extremism poses a threat to the sector, with foreign extractives companies operating on the continent being the target of direct attacks and kidnapping of their employees by terrorist groups.
“A lot of the discussions around violent extremism to date have been very much focused on the security response, what governments are doing, how governments are responding -- whether it’s through military approaches or community engagements,” the head of ASPI’s international programme, Lisa Sharland told African News Agency on the sidelines of a mining conference in Cape Town.
“The discussion that needs to happen is one that looks at what not only the mining sector can be doing, but also the private sector more broadly.”
Sharland said a major challenge for mining projects in Africa was that they were increasingly located in geopolitically risky locations, characterised by political instability and the threat of violent extremism.
“Whether it’s Mali in the west, or in other (places) where we’ve seen instances of violent extremism the concern is that where they are located, which is often remote, if there’s a security concern or the operation of terrorist groups in those areas, it can affect personnel who are working there, the local community and also the investments for the company as well,” she said.
Another potential source of conflict was that large-scale mining projects often had an environmental impact even if managed well, in some cases displacing local communities and exacerbating perceptions of economic marginalisation.
The mining business model had historically been susceptible to bribery and corruption, and these illicit financial flows could be linked to organised crime and even terrorist groups, Sharland added.
“Those factors, in particular, make it important that the mining sector is aware of what is going on in terms of security and violent extremism so that what they are doing does not exacerbate the problems on the ground,” she said.
- African News Agency (ANA)
