CAPE TOWN, South Africa September 4, 2015¬— CAPE TOWN, South Africa September 4, 2015­—Under the African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) project[1], the World Bank Group and its formal partners the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) gathered African law students from around the continent for a 10 day (28th August – 6th September 2015) training on the legal aspects of Africa’s mining sector. This year’s training also included the active attendance and participation of the African Union Commission (AUC), which presented the demands (needs) of the Africa Mining Vision and its implementation for home grown, well researched and tested solutions to the diverse challenges faced by African Union member States. This also resonates with the need for the implementation and ultimate achievement of the Agenda 2063 and the Common African Position (CAP) on post 2015 development agenda for social and economic structural transformation of African economies.

For the second year in a row, the World Bank and its partners selected advanced law students from over a dozen African institutions in 17 countries, representing all four regions of the continent. Students included 16 women and 14 men, and spoke French, Portuguese, Arabic and English in addition to numerous local languages throughout the course of the training.

Students received access to preeminent legal scholars and practicing lawyers across a diverse range of specializations. The training included sessions on local content, community development, fiscal regimes, beneficiation, environmental protection, as well as in depth exposure to common types of mining licenses just to name a few sessions.

The training exposed law students on two levels: on one hand, detailing the legal issues that impact the legislative frameworks of Africa’s mining sector; and on the other hand, introducing students to the AMLA platform which is being populated with the primary mining codes, regulations, and related legislation of all African countries by a legal research team made up of the best students selected from last year’s training. Select students will also be invited to join the legal research team after this year’s training.

In addition to teaching the students, the training also brought together the academic supervisors from each represented law faculty in a series of parallel sessions at the beginning of the training. There was a resounding consensus on the absence of mineral law courses across continent. Professors discussed ways to increase collaborations across African academic institutions in the development of mineral law short courses, degree programs, and cross-border learning to further build Africa’s own legal expertise in the mining sector.

By the end of the parallel sessions, the professors had agreed as a group to begin developing a series of short courses on the legal aspects of the mining sector in the first half of 2016. This consensus is the first piece in laying the foundation for the handover of the AMLA platform to an African institution, ensuring the long term sustainability of the AMLA platform as an up to date legal resource in the mining sector in the future. AUC is committed to continue working with the key partners of AMLA Project (World Bank, ALSF, UCT and participating Universities and Institutions) in ensuring its sustainability.

For further information regarding the AMLA Project please visit the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development (www.globalforumljd.org). To visit the AMLA platform please go to www.a-mla.org. The Project welcomes feedback on the usefulness and accuracy of the platform. Comments can be sent to feedback@a-mla.org.

For More information, please Contact Mr. Frank Mugyenyi , Sr.Industry Advisor, Email: MugyenyiF@africa-union.org

For further information:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org | Web Site: www.au.int | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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