The\nEast African Development Bank hosted two events to develop the East African<\/p>\n\n\n\n
extractives\nindustry in Nairobi in August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From\nthe 2nd to 3rd August, the East African Development Bank hosted Permanent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretaries\nand other senior government officials from across East Africa to a workshop<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that\noffered capacity building in better negotiating contracts pertaining to natural<\/p>\n\n\n\n
resource\nmanagement in the extractives industries. Lawyers from DLA Piper<\/p>\n\n\n\n
implemented\nthe workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From\nthe 5th to the 9th August, the EADB will host public sector lawyers and legal<\/p>\n\n\n\n
professionals\nto a second workshop that will also provide capacity building in better<\/p>\n\n\n\n
negotiating\ncontracts pertaining to natural resource management in the extractives<\/p>\n\n\n\n
industries,\nwith a greater emphasis on lawyer\u2019s negotiation skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nworkshops are the seventh and eighth of their kind, hosted by the EADB, in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
partnership\nwith law firm DLA Piper, as part of a series to develop natural resource<\/p>\n\n\n\n
management\nin East Africa to ensure that the region maximizes its benefits from the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
exploration,\nexploitation and extraction of its own resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking\nat the opening of the event, EADB\u2019s Director General Ms. Vivienne Yeda<\/p>\n\n\n\n
noted\nthat \u2018it is increasingly critical that host countries are able to derive\ntangible<\/p>\n\n\n\n
benefits\nfrom the exploitation of their natural resources\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Natural\nresources are a public good that if well managed have the potential to drive<\/p>\n\n\n\n
economic\ndevelopment, and if well invested can actually reduce income inequality and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
spur\nmeaningful job creation. If national governments benefit from royalties and\ntaxes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
stemming\nfrom the mining sector, and if these dividends are well invested into human<\/p>\n\n\n\n
capital\ndevelopment and economic diversification, then the windfalls from natural<\/p>\n\n\n\n
resource\ndiscoveries can be used to catalyse socioeconomic development and to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
develop\na strong economic base for East Africa to grow.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms.\nYeda further emphasized that \u2018in addition to developing local value addition,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
export\nrevenue and skilled job creation, both foreign and domestic mining companies<\/p>\n\n\n\n
should\nbe compelled to operate according to strict environmental and social\nstandards\u2019,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
whilst\n\u2018national governments must be compelled to invest to ensure that natural<\/p>\n\n\n\n
resource\nwealth is distributed evenly and that the benefits accrue to current and future<\/p>\n\n\n\n
generations,\neven after East Africa\u2019s natural resources have been depleted\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Principal\nSecretary to the National Treasury (Kenya), Dr. Julius Monzi Muia, was also<\/p>\n\n\n\n
present\nat the launch and expressed his delight at, and thanked EADB for, the\ninitiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nexplaining the infamous resource curse, Dr. Muia explained that \u2018well\nstructured<\/p>\n\n\n\n
government\npolicy relating to natural resource exploration, exploitation and exportation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
can\nprevent an economy from experiencing the infamous resource curse and can instead<\/p>\n\n\n\n
leave\nan economy better off, with more resources to invest in healthcare, education,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
infrastructure\nand a diversified economic base, that will in turn promote job creation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and\ncement the gains to sustainable economic growth.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nMuia further expressed that \u2018it is critical that we, as civil servants, all\nwork together<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to\nmaximize the benefits accruing to our local economies and populations from\nnatural<\/p>\n\n\n\n
resource\nrents\u2019, noting that \u2018mining agreements typically constitute substantial and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
long-term\ninvestments and are complex to structure, requiring specific attention to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
environmental\nand social issues, land issues, the protection of artisanal miners in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
establishment\nof multinationals, taxation, royalties and value addition\u2019 and that the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
finiteness\nof natural resources requires East African legal professionals and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
policymakers\nto \u2018ensure that we fully utilize the potential benefits accruing from a onetime\nendowment from the onset\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ntraining series is organised by EADB and facilitated by global law firm, DLA<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Piper.\nIt has been designed for public sector lawyers and legal professionals involved<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in\nnegotiating transactions and drafting agreements on behalf of Governments in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
extractive\nsectors and other large-scale projects. The latest trainings were the seventh<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and\neighth in the series following from recent trainings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania\nand<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in\nKigali, Rwanda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The East African Development Bank hosted two events to develop the East African extractives industry in Nairobi in August 2019. From the 2nd to 3rd August, the East African Development Bank hosted Permanent Secretaries and other senior government officials from across East Africa to a workshop that offered capacity building in better negotiating contracts pertaining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":10622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n