Africa’s mineral resources are important to the EU, and a large number of EU-listed or -based mining companies operate in African countries. The extent to which host-country rules constrain the behaviour of companies sufficiently to ensure that they become contributors to development rather than agents of extraction or injustice is central to the relationship between extractive industries and development. This speaks directly to the governance challenge facing governments, private sector actors and the broader set of stakeholders impacted by mining activities, including local communities in mining jurisdictions.
