HomeGold: wealth or curse?
Published on Thursday, January 12, 2023
Abstract
Recent years have brought a dramatic upsurge in Africa’s gold output – boosting the export earnings and goverment revenues of producer countries, fuelling hopes of additional resources for development. But many also fear there could be negative spillovers, particularly in eroding stability and good governance, the so-called “resource curse”. These are just two facets of what is a wide debate debate, as the gold sector has multiple economic, political, environmental and symbolic ramifications. This issue of Afrique contemporaine aims to provide studies on different aspects, focusing as much as possible on the link between gold and the various forms of conflict.
Announcement
Coordination of the issue
Marc Raffinot
Argument
Gold in Africa, wealth sharing and rising violence
Recent years have brought a dramatic upsurge in Africa’s gold output – boosting the export earnings and goverment revenues of producer countries, fuelling hopes of additional resources for development. But many also fear there could be negative spillovers, particularly in eroding stability and good governance, the so-called "resource curse". These are just two facets of what is a wide debate debate, as the gold sector has multiple economic, political, environmental and symbolic ramifications. The four largest gold-producing countries in Africa are Ghana, South Africa, Sudan and Mali, but the mining of this precious production also plays an important role in countries like the DRC and Burkina Faso.
The development of modern industrial mines tends to attract the most attention, particularly from the public authorities, mainly for fiscal reasons. But this production coexists alongside widespread small-scale, artisanal production, which is a major contributor to total gold output and a vital source of livelihoods. In West Africa alone, it is estimated that artisanal gold panning and digging employs at least three million people – including one million in Ghana and Burkina Faso, 700,000 in Mali, and 300,000 in Niger – and indirectly supports more than 12 million.
In economic terms, the impact of gold mining on the wider population is controversial. The modern mining sector is largely dominated by multinational companies from the United States (Newmont), Canada (Barrick Gold, Kinross Gold, Agnigo Eagle), South Africa (AngloGold Ashanti, GoldFields, Harmony), Russia (Nordgold, Polyus, Polymetal) or Australia (Newcrest). State mining codes often offer favourable treatment to gold and other mining companies (Cambell, 2010 and 2019). Other authors have emphasized the opacity of the global gold trade, contrasting it with that of diamonds, which is structured by the Kimberley Process.
However, detailed information about the extensive traditional gold mining and its impacts on local host communities, and particularly regarding trade channels, is much more scarce. Studies have compared the impact of mining on different aspects of the population's standard of living. Many highlight the negative impact of gold mining, particularly in terms of health and the environment: accidents, mercury pollution, the spread of HIV AIDS, (Leclerc Olive 2022, Survie 2007, Barenblitt 2021), violence, school drop-out (Soïba Traore and Lauwerier, 2020), However, Bazillier and Girard (2020) used geo-located data to show that the impact of gold mining on the well-being of the population is greater than that of modern mines. This study, like Pokorny et al.'s (2019) study based on in-depth surveys, argues for public policies that support the creation of prosperity through traditional gold mining, rather than public policies that seek to repress or even eliminate artisanal mining in favour of industrial methods.
Among the most sensitive public policies for artisanal digging, those policies related to land rights and access to water occupy a central place, as industrial gold producers, gold panners and indigenous populations often clash (Goujon 2022), especially when traditional gold mining leads to unregulated urbanization (Cros and Mégret, 2018; Gagnol et al., 2022; Ayeh, 2022).
In terms of conflict, gold generates resources for states through royalties and taxes on direct and induced economic activity, as well as for various government and/or rebel organizations. In the case of Burkina Faso a mapping approach (Théry and Dory, 2021) has linked industrial and artisanal mining activities to terrorist attacks. Artisanal activity leads to complex and non-transparent marketing arrangements (Ouedraogo, 2022), often converging on Dubai to supply Switzerland (Bolay and Schulz, 2022) and China.
Gold provides governments with resources, but at the same time fuels the appetite of those who want to seize power. This further complicates the issue of formalising traditional gold mining, as initiatives in this area risk throwing gold miners into the arms of rebel groups (Crisis Group, 2019; Ouedraogo, 2022). This is why the study of practices at this level, such as those of buying groups (Traoré 2022 in the case of the Sikasso region), is of interest.
Gold is also a symbolic resource, as various stakeholders are regularly accused of "plundering gold mines": the "sacred thirst for gold" feeds many fantasies, in that gold is equated with wealth par excellence (without much thought being given to the costs of production). Gold is therefore logically accused of being at the heart of colonial and neo-colonial adventures (whether those of the UK and France or, later, Russia – whose precursor, the Soviet Union, exploited West African gold during the "socialist" period in Guinea and Mali).
Finally, we should not forget the historical dimension, since gold was at the centre of the trans-Saharan trade (gold for salt). The exploitation of gold, linked to slavery, also developed in particular in the Gold Coast, well before British colonisation (Akurang-Parry Kwabena, 2014). The gold trade in this region is concomitant with the beginnings of a slave trade to Portugal from the end of the 15th century, as evidenced by the construction in Elmina of the first European fortified trading post in the tropics, the fort Sao Jorge da "Mina" ("The [gold] mine") in 1482. Later, the discovery of South Africa's mineral wealth triggered a gold rush that left a lasting impression on the country.
Finally, ethnologists have highlighted numerous social practices related to gold, and in particular those intended to ward off its evil power, especially among the Lobi (Mégret 2008, Cros and Mégret, 2018).
This issue of Afrique contemporaine aims to provide studies on these different aspects, focusing as much as possible on the link between gold and the various forms of conflict.
Four thematic areas
The expected contributions will address the question "Gold, wealth or curse? around 4 themes
- The impact of gold mining on the population
- Gold, a source of conflict
- Gold and external interference
- Public policy: avoiding the “curse”
All disciplines - socio-economics, political economy, political science, socio-anthropology of development - may be mobilized to address these themes. Contributions on specific case studies in different African contexts are expected.
Calendar
- Formal launch of the call for papers: 5 January 2023.
- Deadline for submission of proposals : February 15, 2023.
- Feedback of the Editors to authors by April 30, 2023.
- Receipt of a first draft of the pre-selected articles by June 15, 2023 The V1 request by the Editors does not prejudge the final acceptance of the article.
- Decision to accept or not the pre-selected article, and this after the opinion of two reviewers: July 31, 2023.
- If the article is accepted, subject to possible modifications, finalization of the article in question: 1er September 2023
- Publication end of 2023-beginning of 2024.
Submission guidelines
Proposals (brief outline of the rationale and data/sources used) should be sent to marc.raffinot@dauphine.psl.eu and Afcontemporaine@gmail.com
before February 15, 2023.
Article, in English, French or Spanish, in Times New Roman 12, must be 45,000 characters long (including spaces and punctuation) maximum and include all tables, maps, drawings, formulas, graphs, notes and bibliographic references.
References cited must be in APA format
Articles submitted must be accompanied by two abstracts of 600 characters each, in French and English. Articles are accompanied by 4 to 6 keywords.
Selection
The review of documents will be conducted using a double-blind approach with two specialist reviewers.
References
Ayeh Diana (2022), Le droit minier face à l'éthique de l'or, Contestations autour d'une concession minière au Burkina Faso, Revue internationale d'études du développement,
Barenblitt, A. et al. (2021) The large footprint of small-scale artisanal gold mining in Ghana. Science of the Total Environment 146644 (781).
Bazillier R. and Girard V. (2020), "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso", Journal of Development Economics, 143, 102411.
Bolay Matthieu and Schulz Yvan, (2002) "Les conditions disputées d'un approvisionnement " responsable " en or", Revue internationale des études du développement, p. 63-88.
Cambell Bonnie (2019), Contesting Extractive Governance: Power, Discourse, Violence, and Legality" Introduction, Special Issue {Extractive} Industries and Society, Volume 6, Issue 3, July 2019, pp 635-641.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214790X19301479
Cambell Bonnie (2010), Mining Resources in Africa. What regulation for development? Presses de l'Université du Québec (PUQ), Québec, IDRC, Ottawa and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala.
Crisis Group (2019), Taking back control of the central Sahel gold rush, Africa Report N°282 | 13 November 2019.
Cros, Michèle, and Quentin Mégret (2018), "Gold, blood, rain and genies. Chroniques ethnographiques d'un conflit entre orpailleurs et autochtones lobi du Sud-Ouest burkinabè', Afrique contemporaine, vol. 267-268, no. 3-4, 2018, pp. 113-134.
Goujon Emmanuel (2022) " Afrique de l'Ouest : le nouveau paradigme de l'espace et du temps des orpailleurs ", Veille, 20 October 2022.
Gagnol Laurent, Rhoumour Ahmet, Afane Tchilouta and Abdoulkader Afane (2022), "Enjeux territoriaux et éthiques de la régulation de la ruée vers l'or au nord du Niger", Revue internationale d'études du développement. p.173-196.
Leclerc-Olive Michèle (2022), L'eau de l'or : à l'heure des éthiques de l'environnement, Revue internationale d'études du développement, p.121-146
Mégret, Quentin (2008). Gold "dead or alive". L'orpaillage en pays lobi burkinabé, in Cros M. and Bonhomme J. (eds), 2008, Déjouer la mort en Afrique, orphelins, fantômes, trophées et fétiches. L'Harmattan.
Ouedraogo Assane, (2022), "Rapports de force autour de l'exploitation artisanale de l'or au Sahel", Ecole de guerre économique, September, https://www.ege.fr/infoguerre/rapports-de-force-autour-de-lexploitation-artisanale-de-lor-au-sahel
Pokorny, B.; Von Lübke, Ch.; Dayamba, Sidzabda Dj.; Dickow, H. (2019) 'All the gold for nothing? Impacts of mining on rural livelihoods in Northern B urkina Faso", World development, July 2019, Vol.119, pp.23-39.
Sawadogo Edith, Da Dapola Évariste Constant (2020), "Orpaillage et dynamiques des modes d'accès aux ressources naturelles à Kampti", Revue de Sciences Sociales- RSS-PASRES, p.106-124.
Soïba Traore, I. & Lauwerier, T. (2020). "Schoolchildren on gold panning sites in Mali: one of the niches of school wastage". Developing Worlds, 3(3), 137-151.
Survie, African Gold: Looting, trafficking & international trade, 2007
Théry Hervé and Dory Daniel, (2021) "Solhan: mapping terrorism and the territorial dynamics of an insurgency", Mappemonde: http://journals.openedition.org/mappemonde/6129; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/mappemonde.6129
Traoré N'gna (2022), Arène de l'orpaillage : acteurs et enjeux des centrales d'achat d'or de Kadiolo, au Mali, Revue internationale d'études du développement, p.147-172.
Akurang-Parry Kwabena O. (2014), To Wassa Fiase for Gold: Rethinking Colonial Rule, El Dorado, Antislavery, and Chieftaincy in the Gold Coast (Ghana), 1874-1895. History in Africa, pp.11-36.
Subjects
- Africa (Main category)
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology > Social anthropology
- Society > History > Economic history
- Society > Economics > Political economics
- Society > Economics > Economic development
- Society > Geography > Geography: society and territory
- Society > Sociology > Economic sociology
- Society > Political studies > Wars, conflicts, violence
Date(s)
- Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Attached files
Keywords
- or, violence, foncier, environnement, rebellion, développement, ressource publique, malédiction des ressources
Contact(s)
- Marc Raffinot
courriel : marc [dot] raffinot [at] dauphine [dot] psl [dot] eu
Reference Urls
Information source
- Marc Raffinot
courriel : marc [dot] raffinot [at] dauphine [dot] psl [dot] eu
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Gold: wealth or curse? », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, January 12, 2023, https://doi.org/10.58079/1abq
