De Beers is convening a series of “Diamond Dialogues” during 2007 and 2008 in London, moderated by Professor Alyson Warhurst (Warwick Business School, World Economic Forum Fellow, Founding Director, Maplecroft). Here, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre posts background information and the minutes of the dialogues.
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Natural resources, investment and development in Africa
Event: A series of low key and roundtable lunch time discussions
Date: Third Thursday each quarter in 2007: 22 March, 21 June, 20 September, 13 December. In 2008: 23 April and 17 December
Background
Africa is home to rich natural resources - agricultural and extractives in the form of oil, gas, minerals and diamonds. For some countries, notably South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, this wealth has generated benefits that governments have invested over time in development. For others, notably those in west and central Africa, natural resource wealth has been associated with conflict, corruption and large scale expropriation of profits. The current commodity boom, energy security concerns, recent elections and the development of stronger policies to promote joint venture enterprises, economic empowerment, value-adding initiatives and social investment strategies, may be making a positive difference. But challenges remain. As investment from Chinese enterprises gathers pace and new players, particularly national natural resource companies, demand a greater slice of the action. Will investment in natural resources deliver development in Africa going forward and how should business balance risk, responsibility, reputation and returns?
Participants will hear brief viewpoints and then discuss various topics at successive meetings:
1. The imperative of transforming informal, artisanal mining in Africa: what are the issues, the responsibilities and possible solutions (Thursday 22 March, 2007)
2. How does business balance risk, responsibility, reputation and opportunity in the special operating environment of Africa, in particular in countries like Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola? (Thursday 21 June, 2007)
3. What are the implications of, and what should be the response and outreach by the business and NGO community to Chinese investment in natural resources in Africa? (Thursday 20 September, 2007)
4. How does one measure and evaluate the development “footprint” of a business involved in natural resource production in Africa (Thursday 13 December, 2007)
5. Business integrity in Africa – Accountability as the basis for sustainable development (Wednesday 23 April, 2008)
Participants
The lunchtime series will build on the successful Davos breakfast roundtable that for the first time brought together De Beers and other African resource companies with heads of major NGOs for the purpose of straightforward frank debate on issues of mutual concern relating to natural resource production in Africa. The four topics above directly evolved from the Davos roundtable. Building on the outcome of those discussions, experts will be invited to set the scene on each topic, following which there will be a moderated discussion over lunch.
Minutes
Dialogue 1: Transforming informal, artisanal mining in Africa [PDF], 22 Mar 2007
Dialogue 2: Business risk and responsibility in Africa [PDF], 21 Jun 2007
Dialogue 3: Chinese investment in natural resources in Africa [PDF], 20 Sep 2007
Dialogue 4: Measuring and evaluating the development footprint of natural resource production in Africa? [DOC], 13 Dec 2007
Dialogue 5: Business integrity in Africa - Accountability as the basis for sustainable development [PDF], 23 Apr 2008
