Zim in AfDB pilot mining training

Harare, (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe has been selected to be among the first group of eight African countries to benefit from a €1.2 million (US$1.339 million) African Development Bank (AfDB)grant aimed at training policy makers on enhancing revenue accountability from mining activities.

The continental bank said its research had shown that African countries were losing out billions in revenue in the extractive sector due to inadequate use of financial models to inform investment decisions and monitor revenue flows from extractive industry concessions.

The funding, under the bank’s Transitional Support Facility project on
Financial Modelling for the Extractive Sector (FIMES), was approved in
December last year and will be implemented in African countries in
transition from 2020 to 2022.

“Africa’s transitional countries need to build state capacity to mobilise revenues from natural resource investments, to address reconstruction, infrastructure and socio-economic priorities,” said Vanessa Ushie, the manager for Policy Analysis Division in AfDB’s African Natural Resources Centre.

“The FIMES project will equip transitional countries with the right skills and knowledge to enhance domestic resource mobilisation for accelerated growth and sustainable development.”

Other countries included in the pilot project are Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Mali, Madagascar, South Sudan and Sierra Leone.

Besides failure to account for revenues, African countries have also lost out potential revenues due to looting, externalization and lack of accountability for key minerals, primarily gold and diamonds, that has seen individuals benefiting at the expense of the economy.
New Ziana