ABSTRACT
Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa do not have the means to carry out exploration themselves and therefore invite better-equipped foreign investors to develop their extractive resources. Beyond this relationship of interdependence between the state and mining companies, the state remains the regulator of the socio-economic and cultural life with which companies interact. With the mining boom in Africa, the legal framework for the sector has evolved and in recent years this has led to increasingly participatory mining codes. This is part of the strong will of the executive – with mounting pressure of monitoring bodies and international institutions, which demand more transparency and accountability – to increase the benefits of the state while at the same time improving its attractiveness vis-à-vis investors. A procedure ordinarily governed by the sovereign power of the state is thus opened to actors who are normally subject to the law, and who thus become legislators. Therefore, the state appears to concede part of its sovereignty.
What is the significance of this process of developing participatory mining codes? In this chapter, I seek to analyse the dynamics that have contributed to redefining the extractive sector, the process of drafting or amending mining codes, by the association of other actors, civil society and companies. The chapter will analyse the dynamics, the processes leading to the emergence of the participatory codes, with an emphasis on Cameroon, fleshing out their advantages and limitations for the clearly stated objective of capitalization of foreign direct investment.
