Malawian delegation with Sengal’s Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources (Courtesy of RDF)
A delegation from Malawi is currently visiting Freetown, Sierra Leone, to learn from the West African country’s experiences in the mining sector. Delegates are expected to study Sierra Leone’s successes in attracting mining investment and in managing large-scale mining operations.
Representatives from Malawi’s Ministry of Mines, the Malawi Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Finance, and a stakeholder from Citizens for Justice, who is involved in Malawi’s push to join the Extractive Industries Transparency, Initiative are part of the 3-day visit. The trip is supported by the Revenue Development Foundation (RDF) and the German development agency Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
RDF, a non-profit consultancy that works with governments to enhance management of and increase domestic revenues, has developed the Mining Cadastre Administration System (MCAS) solution in both Malawi and Sierra Leone. This RDF brief on mineral rights administration provides an overview of the consultancy’s expertise, experience and solutions.
The MCAS solution enables governments to better collect revenue, enforce rules and improve the investment environment through greater transparency and accountability. An in-depth description of RDF’s activities in Malawi with the Department of Mines and the Mineral Rights Section can be found on their blog.
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray welcomed the Malawian delegation today. According to RDF’s blog, Mansaray
shared frank lessons from negotiating with mining companies, addressing community expectations and the role of government transparency. He pointed out that the GoSL [Government of Sierra Leone] Online Repository, where MCAS data is made available to the public, was considered a key tool to put pressure on companies to stay compliant.
Delegates from Malawi learn about Sierra Leone’s experiences in the mining sector (Courtesy of RDF)
