Sector Programme
    Extractives and Development

    Effectively leveraging the resource sector for local value creation LION celebrates one-year anniversary

    For one year now, the “Extractives and Development” sector programme (Sector Programme) has been promoting local value creation in resource-rich countries with the Local Investment Opportunities in Natural Resource Projects (LION)-Tool. The procurement model shows market potentials in value-adding segments upstream of mining. The LION Tool further develops the content of Enterprise around Mining. LION is currently applied to the gold mining sector in West Africa and the African Copperbelt.

    For example, LION estimates the procurement volume for electricity in the Copperbelt at USD 923 million in 2017, of which USD 470 million accounts for Zambia and USD 453 million for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This hitherto unavailable information allows policymakers to identify potentials for local value creation and thus to better leverage the commodity sector for local economic development.

    Much has happened since the policy tool was finalized almost a year ago. The Sector Programme presented LION to the policy and mining community at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention, the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference as well as the World Bank programme “Extractives-led Local Economic Diversification (ELLED) - Community of Practice”. Bilaterally, LION was introduced to high-ranking Zambian policymakers and at the DRC Mining Week in Lubumbashi (DRC). In cooperation with the IGF and the Extractives Hub, the modelling results are available online on two external websites alongside the website of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In total, the model results were accessed around 1,700 times for the Copperbelt and 800 times for West Africa (as of December 2019).

    The Sector Programme was also present at the BMZ Open Day. Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Flachsbarth was particularly interested in the cooperation between African and German companies, which LION supports. The formation of joint ventures between German medium-sized companies and African partners is a possible next step, which the Sector Programme is currently examining in cooperation with the Competence Centre for Mineral Resources of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry South Africa. This reflects the focus of a stronger economic cooperation with Africa, which the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) recently emphasized at the Economic Network Africa symposium. Also in the African Copperbelt, the Sector Programme is currently planning a first workshop in Kinshasa to address the request from local partners to train them to administer and update LION themselves.

    Further information about LION as well as modelling results can be found here. Using Tableau software the methodology underlying Enterprise around Mining was refined and graphically visualized in a more appealing way and made available online. The web-based application makes it possible to update the data continuously and, for example, to add new countries such as Senegal, Liberia, Guinea and Mauritania.

    For further information please contact Thomas Grupp.