In an effort to ensure that mining contributes to sustainable economic growth and human development, the World Bank is bringing together policy makers, private sector and civil society representatives to discuss the most effective ways of increasing local procurement by the mining industry in West Africa. Boosting local procurement, or the use of local suppliers (as opposed to international-based ones) of products and services in the mining sector, helps to ensure that the benefits of mining are more evenly spread across the economy of a country, creating jobs and stimulating the sustainable development of local enterprises. The West Africa workshop on local procurement in mining, to be held in Accra on September 21 at the Alisa Hotel, will provide a unique opportunity for regional policy makers to discuss and provide feedback to an on-going regional study entitled Increasing Local Procurement by the Mining Industry in West Africa. The discussions about the regional study, sponsored by the World Bank s Oil, Gas and Mining unit and other local institutions, aim to focus on the following topics: approaches to defining local content; policies and legislation related to local content in West Africa; mining company efforts to increase local procurement of goods and services; specific opportunities for expanding local supply; and recommendations on how each stakeholder (government, regional organization, mining company) can help realize these opportunities. Local procurement by mining companies can bring significant benefits to a wide range of stakeholders in resource-rich countries, says World Bank s Operations Officer Kristina Svensson, who is coordinating the regional study. Due to the large scale of current and potential mining activity in West Africa, countries have a huge opportunity to realize these socio-economic benefits. The significant mining industry in West Africa (supplying, for example, 9% of the world s bauxite, and 8% of the world s gold) is expected to continue to grow with a number of large gold, iron ore, and bauxite projects in advanced planning stages. Furthermore, there are significant unexploited mineral resources across the region, including uranium, copper and diamonds. These levels of mining activity result in significant procurement expenditure, both in terms of capital investment and ongoing operational costs. However, currently there is limited participation in mining supply chains by companies based in West Africa, despite existing capacity and the potential to create further capacity. Few mining companies in West Africa currently have a clear policy on supporting local procurement, although there are some efforts underway to apply a more consistent, formal approach. There are important potential opportunities for expanding local supply in a number of areas, including camp management, civil works, construction, transport, and into more technical areas such as drilling, mining, and equipment maintenance. This is an important event since it brings together, for the first time, policy makers and private sector actors to debate specific actions for increasing local procurement in the mining industry, says Ben Aryee, CEO Minerals Commission. The Government of Ghana has already taken a proactive approach on this issue and agreed with the Chamber of Mines on a common framework to boost local procurement for the benefit of the whole economy. This framework is subject of an MOU agreed between the Minerals Commission, the Chamber of Mines and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The report, which will be finalized sometime in November, sets out initial recommendations on how each stakeholder can help realize these opportunities, including: • Regional organizations can help develop a harmonized list of products across the region that may be exempted from customs duties, promoting linkages and investment along the mining supply chain, developing a regional list of suppliers, and continuing to facilitate regional trade. • National governments/policy makers need to set the appropriate policy and regulatory context to encourage local procurement and provide a supportive enabling environment for enterprise development and investment. This includes requiring mining companies to develop local procurement plans, targeted reduction of concessions on import tariffs and duties, promoting linkages and investment along the mining supply chain and potentially allocating revenues from mining to support local supplier development. • Mining companies need to ensure that local companies have full, fair and reasonable access to opportunities. This can be achieved by sharing information on their procurement needs, helping to identify and assess the viability of suitable products and services for local supply, and broadening access to tenders and RFQs. Buying local goods and services serves as a catalyst for private sector development, and is one of the most significant contributions the mining sector can provide to Ghana and to the region, says Joyce Aryee, CEO of the Chamber of Mines in Ghana. We look forward to sharing the Ghanaian experience with other West African chambers and stakeholders.