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‘Makinikia’ and economic liberation: The untold story – 9
What you need to know:
- In this review period, mineral exploration diminished and no new mines were commissioned.
This week we continue to tell the story of the continuing implementation of the recommendations of the Presidential Mining Advice Committee of 2008 as well as the implantation of the new Tanzania Mineral Policy of 2009 and the Mining Act of 2010 that were newly put in place.
As seen last week the review process was an antagonistic process that aroused foreign investor’s anxiety and somehow this situation reduced foreign direct investment inflows in the country creating a hiatus of investment inflow in the country.
In this review period (2007-2010), mineral exploration diminished and no new mines were commissioned. But there was new hope that the foreign direct investment inflow in the country would be restored again as the new policy and new law are implemented.
As Mining companies had entered into Mining Development Agreement as per the old law – the Mining Act of 1998 it was imperative to renegotiate the MDAs to be consistent to the new law.
Therefore, negotiations between the Government and investors began to ensure that mining companies would migrate from the old law into the new law.
Conversely, the policy and legal review process that culminated in putting in place a new policy and a new law, also went concurrently with the Minerals Department institutional capacity building to raise its efficiency and effectiveness in supervising and regulating the industry as well increase transparency, accountability, good governance and communication among stakeholders and the public in the mining industry.
The Minerals Department that had then only two sections – the Minerals Development Section and the Mines Sections was developed into a fully-fledged department with six sections namely: the Licensing And Mineral Rights Management Section; the Mineral Economics and Trade Section; the Small Scale Mining Development Section; the Explosives Management Section; the Mines Inspection Section; and the Mineral Processing and Value Addition Section all to be led by Assistant Commissioners and also all the eight Zonal Mines Offices were to be led by Assistant Commissioners.
The move to elevate the Zonal Mines Offices into a Section level under Assistant Commissioners was intended to decentralise some of the powers of the Commissioner for Minerals to the Assistant Commissioners.
All powers centrally entrusted to the Commissioner for Minerals at times had caused a backlog of activities and delaying or slowing down the regulatory and delivery of services in the mining industry.
A rigorous training programme was also undertaken by the Minerals Department where experts were annually attached to various mining projects in-country or abroad to gain first hand skills and knowledge of the mining industry.
Likewise every year two experts were trained at the master’s degree level in the fields of geology, mining engineering, mineral economics, gemology, economic geology, mining finance analysis, and mining taxation and mining law.
By 2012 the Minerals Department had had assembled a number of experts to help in the management and regulation of the mining industry.
And in this regard, all the 14 Assistant Commissioners posts earlier established were held by a well-trained experts.
To ensure transparency and accountability under the directives of the President Tanzania also initiated a process to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) an international transparency organisation based in Norway.
The Tanzania Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (TEITI) was formed lead by a Multi-Stakeholders Working Group consisting of a tripartite stakeholders grouping of civil society organisations, government departments and agencies and extractive companies both in the oil, gas and minerals sectors.
TEITI began to disclose and reconcile revenue produced by extractive companies and revenues received by the Government and publish for public consumption.
Today under the Tanzania Extractive Industries Transparency Accountability Act of 2015 continues to disclose and publish revenue generated by extractive companies including mining companies and revenue received by the government and its agencies including the TRA, the TPDC and other government Departments for transparency.
