By Mabinty M. Kamara
Stakeholders in the Mano River sub-regional countries have on Tuesday 13th March 2021 engaged on tax harmonization of the fiscal regime in Artisanal and Small -scale mining in the Mano River Union (MRU) basin.
The meeting was hosted in Liberia and Sierra Leone with the two meetings connected virtually to present ASM fiscal regimes in force in all MRU countries, agree on the necessity of conducting a study on gold fiscal regime harmonization and the approach to use towards it, and discuss and validate the Terms of Reference of a Regional consultant who will conduct a study on tax harmonization scenarios in the four MRU countries of Sierra Leone Guinea, Liberia and Cote d’ Ivoire.
The regional consultative meeting, according to officials, is a follow-up of a regional technical meeting held in Freetown in February that brought together national multi stakeholders and international partners in Freetown to develop regional and national action plan.
Supported by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU) the Regional Resource Governance Program in West Africa project is implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) supervised by the MRU Secretariat.
By improving public oversight of the sector, the Regional Approach is said to contribute to increasing the benefits from mining such as higher revenues and employment. It is aimed at supporting the MRU countries in aligning the mining sector more closely with the principles of social, environmental and economic sustainability.
In her opening statement at the meeting, Marie-Josephine Nsengiyumva, project Manager of the Regional Resource Governance in West Africa Programme (REGO) said that the two main tasks of the meeting was to strengthen the capacities of National government to implement the Kimberly Process, better regulate artisanal mining and capture the revenues in line with the Africa Mining Vision and the interventions and policies agreed upon at the regional level within the four countries. It will also increase the capacities of the MRU Secretariat and other relevant national and regional bodies to combat smuggling reduce illicit economies and improve conditions for mining communities involved in artisanal mining. She assured of GIZ commitment to support the process.
In his statement, Technical Assistant at the Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, Daniel Gbondo said that tax harmonization is a critical tool for optimization of benefit in the mineral sector.
However, he said the region has over the years not been able to harness the resources presented to the different countries by its mineral resources, while noting the importance of taxation to state development.
“Taxations are key for the development of the state. It is through taxation that the government is able to pay for education, security, and for the functioning of the state. Therefore, he said there must be a progressive optimal taxation system,” he said.
In his statement, the MRU Kimberly process regional civil society lead, Abu Brima said that the fiscal regime harmonization was identified as an important instrument.
“Fiscal regimes should not be understand merely as mainly money matters that will go to the state. The reason why this issue was taking up by KP is the extent of destruction and abuse caused on the grounds where minerals are exploited. And the greatest sufferers in that equation are the local communities whose wealth is raged whose lives are destroyed and whose environment is completely devastated. And they live with those wreckages for ages. If attention is not paid to the local level, our development index will not improve,” he said.
He said the harmonization process will set an example on the importance of regional coordination. He therefore called for the harmonization process to be looked at in a broader context that will benefit the governments and the local communities.
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Mano River Union Secretary General, Ambassador Medina Wesseh, the Deputy Secretary General, Exchange of Economic and Regional Integration MRU said Artisanal Mining activities are generally attached with negative social and environmental impacts, including conflicts with large-scale mining (LSM) operations at local communities, child labour and safety issues, human rights violations, social disruptions, security risks for mines operators and organized crimes, among others. However, he said ASM if well managed can potentially contribute to local and national development through job creations.
“At the moment, a fairly large number of our citizens are employed in the ASM activities, despite the efforts of our governments to ensure sound management. As a result, the production of such minerals only enters the legal circuit to a very limited extent, whilst the large portion are being smuggled and sold through illegal routes,” he said.
“Consequently, the loss is from two sides: the artisanal miners who are at the mercy of the collectors and exporters, who do not buy their production at the fair price and the government which does not collect the corresponding tax.”
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 12/04/21
