Bilateral Investment Treaties, Mining and National Champions: Making it work

The past decade has seen a surge of national and regional efforts to re-envision the role of mining in East Africa and more broadly in Africa as a whole.

The Africa Mining Vision calls for “transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development.” In the last 10 years most states with significant mineral wealth have revised or have begun the process of revising their national mining codes. The creation of national champions in the Eastern African mining sector is part of the dynamic changes affecting that sector. This paper recognizes the increased importance of national champions and looks at options how mining might best contribute to a range of goals, consistent with the approach taken in the Africa Mining Vision and in various new mining codes drafted by countries such as Angola, Tanzania, Guinea and Mozambique. The paper also focuses on the policy tools available to states interested in pursuing this new vision of mining.