Most financiers investing in mining companies in sub-Saharan Africa implement policies that are “inadequate, vague or have critical loopholes” with respect to protecting communities and ensuring fairness, a new report found.
The report by Forests and Finance, a coalition of researchers and campaigners, warns of the dangers of a rush to extract transition minerals from the continent without due processes in place.
Mining firms operating in sub-Saharan Africa received $67 billion in credit and $17 billion in investment between 2016 and 2024, according to the report. Most of the funding came from banks in just five countries: China, the US, France, Canada, and Japan. The report also said that capital was concentrated in the hands of 30 powerful mining companies primarily headquartered in China, the US, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Switzerland, though the firms’ operations spanned the world.