The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) African Natural Resources Center (ANRC) has published five case studies that look at the different ways in which countries are designing policies and partnering with investors to reap social and economic benefits from extractive industries.

The case studies were commissioned by ANRC to bridge the knowledge gap as relates to natural resources project-driven small and medium enterprise (SME) development, supply chain-based domestic linkages, extractives revenue management, public-private partnerships (PPP) and fiscal policy formulation. ANRC assists African governments maximize development outcomes from natural resources.

“These case studies form a crucial part in ANRC efforts to support countries achieve inclusive and sustained growth by providing decision-makers with evidence-based tools and opportunities to benchmark policies on natural resources management,” said ANRC Director Sheila Khama.

The case studies showcase a range of extractives project-related initiatives and policies deployed in four countries and the positive effects these have on local and national economies. The case studies include:

• A malaria prevention and treatment public private partnership program set up by Ashanti Gold Mining company in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, the World Health Organization and the Global Fund in 2006 aimed at delivering an efficient, cost-effective solution for containing malaria infections in the African countries where the company operates. The AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control Programme is a study in corporate social responsibility in the fight against malaria, and its toll within communities where a company operates, and the viability of a business entity, including the broader safety of its staff. This case study demonstrates the positive impact of strategic public-private partnerships (PPPs) between extractives companies and governments on human development. 


• The Anglo American Corporation of South Africa pioneered an innovative program of funds called Anglo Zimele to support aspirant entrepreneurs from historically disadvantaged communities in South Africa to develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by using Anglo American's sector expertise and procurement muscle as a catalyst for achieving wider, socially responsible growth. These SMEs in turn generate employment and drive social and economic development in economically marginal social classes. This report illustrates ways of leveraging the procurement muscle of extractives projects to promote SME start-ups and employment.

• Botswana has received widespread praise for the way in which it has managed mineral revenues and invested them in education, health care and other forms of assets. In some respects, it has managed to avoid what is commonly known in the literature as the “mineral curse” and “Dutch Disease” through appropriate macroeconomic, exchange rate and fiscal policies, as well as institutional design. This case study examines the experience of a resources-dependent country’s approaches to mining revenue management .

• Debswana Botswana’s partnership with the De Beers Group, through the Debswana joint venture, established a program for reducing HIV/AIDS infection to improve health service delivery and effectively minimize the adverse effects of the epidemic on employees and their families. This case study illustrates the positive effects of PPPs as a vehicle for directly impacting on human development by leveraging the human, financial and managerial resources capacity of mining companies.

• Resource-rich countries like Chile face the dilemma of how to manage this source of revenues. This report analyzes Chile’s fiscal policy implementation and mining revenue management, with an emphasis on the copper sector and its contribution to social development. The report focuses on the formal functioning of the rules and legal framework underpinning the policy.