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'Centres of Excellence’ for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Tanzania: Assumptions around Artisanal Entrepreneurship and Formalization.”

The Africa Mining Vision reiterates the importance of training centres or ‘centres of excellence’ (COEs) for artisanal and small-scale mining but historically, these have had mixed results, partly due to a lack of under- standing of demand for services. Recently, understanding of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) organiza- tional and financial structures has improved, allowing for a more nuanced comparison of formalization policies that emphasize the ‘entrepreneurial’ nature of ASM operators and those that foreground the importance of poverty as a driving factor. With World Bank support, Tanzania has recently established several COEs including two for the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector. This article examines the potentials of these centres, based on key informant interviews, as well as a literature review of experiences from other African countries. Further, we analyse activities planned at COEs, within the Tanzanian institutional and policy context, which tends to treat ASM as ‘entrepreneurs’. We explore implications of the Tanzanian approach for potential for- malization of ASM and transformation of ASM operators into medium-scale mining firms; and identify some institutional tensions and risks involved in implementing the COE approach.

Additional Info

Author(s)
A Kinyondo, C Huggins
Publication Year
2020
Associated Partners
University of Dar es Salaam, University of Ottawa
Language
English
Publishing Institution Webpage
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214790X20300484
Data Source Classification
Academic Study
Research Type
Primary
Research Methodology
Primary - INTERVIEW, Secondary - PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Thematic Tags
Political, Formalization, Technological, Education and Training
Minerals
Gold
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa
Country
Tanzania
Last Updated
November 11, 2020