Post #181

💡Resource Nationalism Index [ IVORY COAST ] How much chocolate do you eat on average per day?I hope not 5,500 tonnes - otherwise it would mean you wipe out the entire daily cocoa production of Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa exporter. However, cocoa is not our department, in contrast to the country’s second-largest export item - gold, which becomes the topic of today's part ofour "Resource Nationalism Index" series. Today Côte d’Ivoire sells abroad $2.1 billion worth of gold, but how is this mineral wealth administered at home? 🔸"Process It First" – 0/10 – Côte d’Ivoire does not impose legal bans or strict requirements to refine or process minerals domestically before export. 🔸 "Share With the State” – 0/10 – There are no general domestic supply requirements forcing mining companies to sell a portion of mineral output to local industry or the state at controlled prices. 🔸 “We’re in Too!” – 4/10 – By law, the Ivorian government automatically receives a free, non-dilutable 10% equity stake in the capital of any mining company granted an exploitation permit. In addition, the state may negotiate to purchase up to an additional 15% ownership in the project company at market value. 🔸 “The Money's Yours, the People Are Ours" – 3/10 – Côte d’Ivoire’s mining law embeds local content principles, though it stops short of fixed quotas on local employees and subcontractors. 🔸“Just Pay Up" – 5/10 – 3% to 6% royalty on gross revenue (after deducting transport and refining costs), on a sliding scale indexed to the gold price. 🔸"You Come – You Build" – 6/10 – Mining companies must pay 0.5% of their annual turnover (revenue) into Local Community Development Fund. 🔸“We’ll Do It Ourselves” – 5/10 – Côte d’Ivoire maintains a direct presence in the mining sector through state-owned SODEMI (Société d’État pour le Développement Minier), a state mining company established in 1962. The government is courting international partners to set up a domestic gold refinery. 🔸“Come Here, You Bast*rd!” – 3/10 – Since the end of the civil conflict in 2011, no region of Côte d’Ivoire is held by insurgents or rebel forces – the government maintains sovereignty over all mining territories. However, the challenge comes from illegal artisanal mining, A recent government study found that roughly three times the country’s official gold production is being siphoned off by illegal mining and smuggling Ivory Coast falls behind all the countries that we observed before - mainly due to the complete absence of direct local processing requirements and the fact that the state does not demand any share of production to be transferred to it, in times when gold prices are extremely high. #IvoryCoast#ResourceNationalism Devils Below