Delivering prosperity beyond a mine’s life cycle

‘Geospatial analyses and objective scientific data guiding decision-making on scalable projects that will transform and diversify regional economies for a long-lasting socioeconomic development impact.”

These might sound like typical buzzwords, but they best describe a new way of developing capacity in marginalised areas where it all comes together in Collaborative Regional Development (CRD).

The CRD approach, developed within mining giant Anglo American a few years ago, seeks to assemble the right partners to identify and deliver scalable, long-term social and economic development solutions in its host regions to help improve lives far beyond the life cycle of the mine.

Matthew Chadwick, head of socioeconomic development and partnerships at Anglo American, says the seed for the CRD approach was planted when those involved in social and economic development and corporate social investment realised that support development in areas immediately around the mine was not enough of a contribution.

“We realised that improvements around our mines whilst the rest of the province was not developing as quickly or in some areas getting worse in absolute poverty terms was not acceptable. It actually was, in some cases, also making the situation around the mine harder for the local host communities, government and us as it stimulates significant population influx as people seek not only jobs, but also better services. From that moment, the CRD approach was established. Based on spatial analysis to identify development opportunities in a similar way the integrated development plans are meant to evolve, a partnership with other organisations was born.

The original partnership was with the Council for Scientific Research (CSIR), the international NGO World Vision the other mining company, Exarro, and the Limpopo provincial government. Later, the engineering company Zutari joined.

Today, the partnership is known in South Africa as The Impact Catalyst and since its official launch at the end of 2019, it has grown with, most notably, the state-owned development financier, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which also chose to collaborate and partner.

It has also recently launched in the Northern Cape, building on the shared value work done there by several mining companies and Deloitte.

“Government is a key and integral part in this collaboration, as development is a government mandate,” explains Chadwick. “But we also need research knowledge, of which CSIR is a world leader in several areas; we need the voice and skills of NGOs other sector partners like Zutari; as well as the financial acumen of organisations like the IDC.”

Through the CRD model, The Impact Catalyst and other collaborative initiatives, Anglo American and its partners are helping to build long-term economic and employment opportunities that are independent of the mine, while also building capacity in other service areas designed to help sustain social and economic development related to, among other things, education, health and the environment.

These efforts are starting to translate into tangible results, with The Impact Catalyst helping establish connectivity to more than 250 schools in Limpopo and a similar programme starting in the Northern Cape. Support through a community-oriented primary care programme, adding to government’s primary health programme of community health workers, is contributing to quality community primary care covering more than 3 million people.

New business opportunities drawing from the CSIR’s research are seeking to bring new technologies like 3-D printing to the mining and other sector supply chains, which will create skilled jobs. There is also development in the more traditional but still vital sectors such as agriculture with the ongoing development of fresh produce markets. These scalable developments will contribute thousands of new jobs.

Sibusiso Tenza, the operations manager, agrees and is convinced by the approach. Previously a social performance manager with Kumba Iron Ore, he knows first-hand how things can change: “Around our mines, we were building up the quality of services like health clinics, and there were better schools, better lighting and better safety. It was improving faster than elsewhere, and created disparity between what was happening around the mines and what was happening in the rest of the municipal area.”

According to Tenza, the starting point with the approach is listening to the views of all of the partners. He also says: “Decisions based on objective data get partners involved.”

Charl Harding, from the CSIR and The Impact Catalyst manager, seconded from the CSIR, explains that, as the biggest research institution in South Africa, the CSIR brings valuable scientific capabilities to the table. This ensures socioeconomic development impact opportunities are created and problems identified. But, equally important, as a parastatal, it has easier engagement with government while maintaining a good interface with the private sector.

Their research has shown how dependance is often created over time by corporates that spend significant amounts on development in their immediate areas, but communities further afield often see much slower improvement. He adds: “Many invest in the wrong things or do it with long-term sustainability in mind.”

Employment maintenance and creation is key in the approach, but also generally harder to bring about than social improvements. In South Africa, the expanded unemployment rate reached a peak of 44.4% in the second quarter of this year, however, this figure is close to 50% in Limpopo.

Tenza says he is proud of the progress that has been made since the launch of The Impact Catalyst in Limpopo. The Impact Catalyst is situated in the planning department of the premier’s office to support provincial government’s development goals and plans. It was closely involved with the Limpopo Development Plan, the roadmap for economic development over the next five years.

“The Impact Catalyst is a registered legal entity, a nonprofit organisation with management and staff. It is not funded by government. We fund it, deploy resources and second experts to work for The Impact Catalyst part time. As a collective, we pull in resources to support the plans, such as feasibility studies for specific concepts and initiatives.”

Harding says there are about 50 projects in the pipeline, but delivery is key and the focus is on those that can be scaled, because some projects take longer than others.

A Limpopo Development Plan implementation task team is now set up to move forward. According to Tenza, the pilot project will get under way to test ideas on a small scale and learn lessons. These projects must be scalable and replicable.

Chadwick says South Africa is both a priority country for Anglo America’s CRD approach and also, in his view, a prime place for it to be developed and to have an impact. South Africa faces huge challenges, but the institutions and resources mean that when collaboration and partnership can be established, things can develop and take hold.

However the company is looking at catalysing and facilitating the approach elsewhere in the world, including in the Moquegua area in Peru, where their new mine is nearing completion, and in Chile and Brazil, as well as most recently looking at its possible application in Botswana.

“It is crucial we plan for our operations even before they are developed so that we can proactively partner with stakeholders, especially government, to most effectively contribute to our host regions’ development and build resilience for when we are no longer there.”

Chadwick concludes: “We know we can contribute significantly to the development of our host regions and it is only through collaboration and partnership that that contribution can be fully realised.”

WHAT IS The Impact Catalyst?

Founded by Anglo American, Exxaro, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, World Vision SA and Zutari, it is an initiative to deliver large-scale socioeconomic change through public-private partnerships.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

It is a joint programme established between The Impact Catalyst and the office of the premier in selected provinces through the Collaborative Regional Development (CRD) platform. CRD is about forming strategic partnerships by working with a wide range of stakeholders to create sustainable, long-term value in the mining industry, especially in host communities. It creates inclusive, collaborative, cross-sectoral programmes to achieve systemic socioeconomic impact through public-private partnerships.

WHERE DOES IT OPERATE?

Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

The initiatives are designed to leverage collaboration for real, collective and sustainable impact, work across sectors and deliver results beyond the scale of individual participants.

WHAT IS THE FOCUS?

Economic development: Transforming low-income national economies into modern industrial economies.
Health promotion: Enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health.
Education: Enabling opportunities, creating more choices and building capacity through the provision of good education for an overall improvement in wellbeing.
Social empowerment: Developing autonomy and self-confidence in people who are then able to act, individually and collectively, to change the institutions and discourses that continue to exclude marginalised people.
Environmental sustainability: Conserving our natural resources while developing alternative sources of power, and reducing pollution and harm to the environment.
Tourism sector development: Creating an enabling environment to assist the tourism sector to attract visitors.
Municipal capacity development and infrastructure support: Supporting the municipality to develop the required capability to enable service delivery.

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