Optimal local content for extractive industries: How can policies best create benefits for Tanzania?

Abstract

This paper has been prepared as part of a series of studies on 'Natural Resources, structural change, and industrial development in Africa' as part of a larger UNU-WIDER research project on 'Jobs, poverty and structural change in Africa'.

Implementation of local content regulation: The case study of a foreign-owned mining operation in Tanzania

“…The work presented in our study complements the findings from Hansen (2013) and Ellis and McMillan (2018) by presenting trends from one of the largest mining operations in Tanzania on LC benefits using specific LC metrics included in the LC regulations.…”

“…Hansen (2013), for instance, finds few linkages between the extractive industry and local benefits, a finding that amplifies the already widespread concerns that extractive FDI leaves too few development benefits for Tanzanian society. On the other side, Ellis and McMillan (2018) confirm successful LC initiatives, particularly in employment generation and skills development. The same study also observed differences between foreign and local companies, with the former spending more on training than the latter.…”

“…Research on LC in Tanzania has covered the analysis of legal and institutional frameworks (;Butler 2004;Ellis and McMillan 2018;Lee and Dupuy 2018;Ovadia 2016), the interactions between mining companies and local communities (Bishoge et al 2022;Lange and Kinyondo 2019;Jacob et al 2016;Pedersena and Kweka 2017), and the challenges linking small-scale suppliers, including farmers, to the extractive industry (Bezu et al 2019;Lange and Kinyondo 2019;Kinyondo and Villanger 2017). The political economy of the extractive industry, including state involvement in the industry beyond its regulatory function, has also been an area of research interest (for instance, see Jacob et al 2016;Lobe et al 2019;Mmari and Bukurura 2016).…”