Building Legal Capacity in the African Mining Sector

As demand for transition minerals keeps growing around the world, many resource-rich African countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo stand to reap important benefits, provided their mining sectors can facilitate and maintain a sustainable mining ecosystem that promotes equitable growth and broad-based development. The World Bank-led African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) initiative has been working to do just that; helping countries across the African continent establish skilled local capacity in the sector and make sure that their mining operations are built on sound legislative frameworks, so that mining activities and revenues can ultimately create real country-wide opportunities leading to growth and shared prosperity across the continent.

The AMLA Workshop, which took place between December 1-9, 2024 at the University of Pretoria, marked the 10^th anniversary of the project and was also the occasion to reaffirm this objective while recognizing AMLA’s many achievements. Since 2014, the AMLA Workshop has provided training in mining laws and regulations to over 280 young lawyers from all five regions of Africa, and this year’s class brought together 100 participants, including law students from 17 countries and 26 universities (of which 53% were women), program alumni, academic institution representatives, law firms, and mining companies, all of whom came together to create a dynamic knowledge environment to transform ideas into impact throughout the continent’s mining operations.

“Capacity building is an essential piece of the World Bank’s operations in Africa and AMLA is a good example of how capacity building can be used to empower stakeholders to advance transparency and good governance in Africa’s mining sector, especially as the region contends with increased global demands for transition minerals,” said Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for South Africa, who was present at the AMLA Workshop.

The importance of continued knowledge and capacity building

“The University is honored to host the 10th anniversary of the African Mining Legislation Atlas Workshop, a significant milestone in advancing specialized legal expertise across Africa,” said Professor Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria.

Launched in 2014 at the World Bank in partnership with the African Legal Support Facility (a public international institution of the African Development Bank Group), the African Union Commission, and several law faculties in Africa, AMLA was conceived in response to the need for increased transparency in Africa’s mining sector and the demand for stable legislative frameworks to drive sustainable and responsible mining, and to maximize the development benefits of mining for African countries. Over its 10-year history, the initiative has created a freely accessible online platform for all of Africa’s mining laws and empowered stakeholders in Africa through its multi-pronged approach that focuses on supporting the governments in drafting and revising their mining laws, developing a living database to catalyze research and policy debates on legal and regulatory issues, and promoting the development of local legal expertise on mining laws.

"AMLA itself is a collaboration within the World Bank Group between the Legal Department and the Extractives Unit for over 10 years. The project contributes to the Extractives Unit’s agenda of making sure that the legal dimension of the extractives sector, which is foundational, has enough capable people to deliver. It is also a partnership with the Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS) Trust Fund, the funding arm of the Extractives Unit. So AMLA is really a matter of partnerships with many stakeholders and a demonstrative example of how to support the responsible mineral development on this continent," said Boubacar Bocoum, Lead Mining Specialist in the Extractives Unit.

The initiative encompasses three core components:

• The AMLA Platform: A free online repository providing access to Africa’s mining codes, regulations, and related legislation. It features interactive tools for comparing mining laws across the continent.
• Knowledge Products: AMLA produces essential resources and has produced the “Guiding Template”, a tool that supports African countries in drafting and revising their mining laws to align with best practices.
• Capacity Building: Through its annual workshops, AMLA trains law students from resource-rich African countries, equipping them with the legal expertise to navigate and shape mining legislation for sustainable growth.

The AMLA initiative, led by Nneoma Nwogu, Senior Counsel in the Legal Vice Presidency, also closely aligns with the World Bank’s Knowledge Compact for Action, which underscores the importance of strengthening knowledge-sharing networks and partnerships, fostering capacity development, and supporting the creation of effective and sustainable structures to address the global challenges of poverty and inequality. The AMLA Workshop reaffirms the World Bank’s commitment to a 21^st-century knowledge architecture for transforming ideas into impact.

Handing leadership over to other partners

This year’s AMLA Workshop offered participants informative and dynamic discussions with substantive and practical sessions, and included an engaging visit to a mining operation in the area. It also marked the final training delivered by the World Bank, in cooperation with the African Legal Support Facility, several universities across Africa, as well as law firms, mining companies, and various other global stakeholders, who collaborated for 10 years to deliver expert education on the complexities of mining law and governance. In 2025, the World Bank will transition the leadership of AMLA to the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation.

Teresa Jennings, Vice President and Treasurer of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, confirmed the upcoming transition. “I had the privilege of watching [the World Bank Group and African Legal Support Facility] representatives carry immense flags into the arena … And I watched them work with all of [the law students] not just as trainees, but as future leaders. [This program is a] relay race. We signed [a] Memorandum of Understanding [with the World Bank] to start running and by July [2025] we are going to take up that baton and do it well,” she said.

"When the World Bank Legal Department initiated the AMLA project in 2014, it preceded in many ways the strategic direction described in the Knowledge Compact for Action that we now have at the World Bank. AMLA closely aligns with the Knowledge Compact in emphasizing the importance of knowledge generation, strategic partnerships, and capacity-building to address today’s pressing global challenges … and its partners have fostered an environment where knowledge can be translated into meaningful, actionable solutions. This new partnership with the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation to oversee the AMLA platform is amazing, and I'd like to thank the Foundation for being our partner and making this possible," said Kirsten Propst, Chief Counsel in the Legal Vice Presidency, who on delegation from Christopher Stephens, Senior Vice President and WBG General Counsel, delivered a closing keynote to the participants.

Top photo listing: (from left to right): Boubacar Bocoum, Lead Mining Specialist, World Bank Group (WBG); Nneoma Nwogu, Senior Counsel, WBG; Dr. Nightingale Rukuba-Ngaiza, Senior Counsel, WBG; Kirsten Burghardt Propst, Chief Counsel, WBG; Hulisani Thabela, Director of Tourism, City of Tshwane; Prof. Elsabe Schoeman, Dean of Law, University of Pretoria (UP); Prof. Lorreta Ferris, Vice Principal of Academic, UP; Satu Kahkonen, WBG Country Director for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini; Marjorie Mpundu, Chief Counsel, WBG; Feyifolu Adeyosola Boroffice, WBG Operations Manager for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini; and Nnewuoghor Okhai-Akhigbe, Senior Legal Counsel, African Legal Support Facility.