Background on the mining sector

Gold is currently the country's largest export product in value terms and is one of the largest contributors to economic growth. The resources generated by the sector range from CFAF 250 to 300 billion per year. Mali was in 2015, the third largest African producer behind South Africa and Ghana. The country derives nearly 6% of its GDP from the gold industry, which generates 65 to 70% of export earnings and 21 to 28% of tax revenues.

However, this sector remains exposed today to the risk of the consequences of monoculture of gold, hence the need to diversify mining production through the development of other mineral resources and to intensify oil research. With regard to oil, the results obtained from recent work are very encouraging and could quickly confirm the oil potential of the work areas. Industry accounts for only 3% of the labour force, reflecting the atrophy of this economic sector.

According to the Mining Policy Declaration adopted by the Government in November 1998, the main objective of the mining sector is the substantial increase in the share of mining products in GDP with a view to improving the social well-being of the Malian people through a fair distribution of income from the sector. The expected results of this policy include:

• An improvement in the trade balance,
• The increase in tax revenues,
• Development of related activities (transport, services, supplies, etc.) and;
• The emergence of a local processing industry.

In order to do so, the Government had adopted a four (4) strand programme of actions: (i) the revision of the legal framework, (ii) institutional reform, (iii) promotion and (iv) training.

The Mining Policy Statement is part of the Vision of the African Mining Regime (AMV) adopted by African Heads of State and Government in February 2009, the main objective of which was to promote « fair and optimal exploitation of mining resources for broad sustainable growth and sustained socio-economic development ». This is an innovative approach in that it goes beyond improving national mining regimes to determine how mining can make a real contribution to local, national and regional development.

The principles, objectives and action plan of the VMA have been fully validated by expert groups and endorsed by the decision-making bodies of the African Union as well as by technical and political leaders, including the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. The vision is based on five strategic intervention points:

1. The level and quality of potential resource data;
2. The ability to negotiate contracts;
3. Development of African human resources;
4. Improving resource management capacity;
5. Solving infrastructure problems.

In Mali, the 1998 Declaration of Mining Policy had already as its main objective to make the mining sector the engine of economic and social development. More than 15 years later, however, the sector's contribution to GDP remains relatively low in terms of the country's large mineral reserves, namely gold, oil, iron, diamond, limestone, phosphate, gem salt, uranium, etc.

On the other hand, many complaints continue to emanate from the populations concerned, who do not see the impact in terms of living conditions. For many, « Gold does not shine for Malians ». There is an unexplainable poverty in the localities where mining is carried out. Finally, it should be noted that the current emergence of the mining sector as a major contributor to the Malian economy is the result of significant investment in gold mines since the 1990s.

As a result of these investments, Mali has become one of the largest gold producers in Africa with nine mines and about 50 tons of gold produced annually.

Today, the mining department has set out to move from extractive industry to sustainable development dynamics that integrate economic, social, societal and environmental dimensions. These dynamics will take into account the improvement of the living conditions of Malians, specifically those of the populations bordering the mines and will no longer consider mining activity as disconnected from the rest of national economic activity.

Mining is now part of a social, economic and environmental sustainable development project, particularly in communities and areas hosting mining sites.

To give effect to these guidelines, Mali has developed a strategy for the development of the mining sector institutionalized through a 10-year Industrial Development Planning Act for the mining sector (2018-2028) that clearly defines the responsibilities of all actors involved in the sector.

In the same vein, the Government had commissioned a diagnostic study of the mining sector with a view to making the benefits of mining and ensuring the country's attractiveness for foreign investment. « technical and financial diagnosis of mining activities » which concluded on the importance of the mining sector in the development process, but also on the opportunities represented by the rereading of the basic texts of the mining sector, the reorganization of the sector but above all the establishment of genuine governance in the sector.

In the light of the findings of the state of the art and the diagnosis of the mining and oil sectors, and drawing on the general guidelines laid down in the African mining vision, the main objective of the mining sector is the substantial increase in the share of mining products in GDP with a view to improving the social well-being of the Malian people through a fair distribution of income from the sector and promoting sustainable development for communities around the mines.

The mining sector also ensures the protection and preservation of the environment. In summary, the mining sector must ensure the promotion of « Equitable and optimal exploitation of mining resources for broad sustainable growth and sustained socio-economic development ».

The objectives of this policy are defined on the basis of seven (7) major challenges:

1. Improving sector governance;
2. Mali's allocation of a good geoscience information base and system;
3. The provision of basic infrastructure in Mali;
4. Improving the structure and supervision of the mining craft sector;
5. Improving the quality of human resources;
6. Integration of the mining and oil sectors into the entire national economy;
7. The transformation of the mining sector into a vehicle for sustainable development.

These challenges are highly integrated. They are formulated without hierarchy or chronology, but with strong interrelations of cause and effect with each other.

The strategy of Mali's national policy for the development of the mining and oil sector is structured around (07) axes that will ensure its implementation. These are:

1. Strengthening and adapting the regulatory framework for Mali's mining and oil industry to the country's vision and new ambitions for the sector;
2. Optimizing the exploitation of Malian mining potential in space and time;
3. Meeting infrastructure needs for mining and oil development in Mali;
4. Better compliance with regulations and standards and the well-being of local actors and people;
5. Upgrading, qualitatively and quantitatively, the state's human resources needs;
6. Developing synergies between the mining sector and the rest of the economy;
7. The creation of appropriate conditions to enable riparian populations to perceive the mining sector as a means of improving their living conditions.