The Ministry of Mines and Quarries, through the Permanent Secretariat of the National Mining Commission (SP/CNM) is organising a workshop from 24 to 29 October 2022 to develop a user guide and a standard reporting template for the use of the resources of the Local Development Mining Fund (LDMF).
The LDMF was created by the 2015 Mining Code. It is funded by 1% of the turnover of operating companies and 20% of the proportional royalties collected by the State.
However, it was in 2017 that the LDMF’s implementing regulations were adopted. Since 2019, the fund has been operational. The mining companies concerned and the State pay their contributions and a national committee is responsible for distributing the sums collected to the beneficiaries.
To date, 144 billion CFA francs have been collected and distributed to local authorities. According to Emmanuel Yaméogo, Permanent Secretary of the National Mining Commission, LDMF resources are allocated to the financing of projects included in regional development plans (PRD) and communal development plans (PCD), with priority given to the social sectors.
Thanks to the LDMF, communes receive large sums of money for their investments in education, health, drinking water and sanitation, infrastructure, etc. However, many insufficiencies have been noted, including the poor use of these resources.
Indeed, some projects selected by the local authorities for LDMF funding do not ensure a better future for these communities and prepare for the post-mine era. A recurrent choice of projects eligible for the fund has been noted. In addition to the low absorption of resources by the communities, the Ministry of Mines notes insufficiencies in the production and transmission of reports on the use of resources.
In order to solve all these problems, the development of a guide for the use of LDMF resources and a standard reporting format was initiated. At the end of the workshop, the Ministry should have the general principles for using the LDMF, the plan for writing reports on the use of the LDMF, and the social and economic sectors in which the LDMF resources can be used.
Documents will make it possible to formalise the eligibility and selection criteria for the investments to be made. These criteria must clarify the nature, typology, and quality of the said investments as well as their selection method, according to Mambagari Combari, representing the Secretary General of the Ministry of Mines and Quarries at the opening ceremony of the workshop.
Elie KABORE
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
