In May this year, international organisation The World Bank Group’s board of executive directors approved a new $45-million credit fund to assist Tanzania in improving the socioeconomic impacts associated with large and small-scale mining in the country.

This would also help increase local and foreign private investment.

“This project shows the World Bank’s commitment to support Tanzania’s efforts to allocate mining resources equitably, especially to the poorest, through a focus on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM),” says country director for Tanzania Philippe Dongier.

The additional financing will build on the success of the ongoing Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project (SMMRP) which has strengthened the Tanzanian government’s capacity to manage the sector, improved the regulatory framework, expanded the country coverage by geological surveys and enhanced the social and environmental management framework for mining.

“[The] additional financing builds on these achievements and supports the government’s effort to transform mining activities into economic growth with benefits that can be shared by all Tanzanians, particularly in rural areas,” comments World Bank task team SMMRP project leader Mamadou Barry.

Scaling up the original project will help identify suitable geological areas for artisanal miners, train and establish demonstration centres for ASM to improve knowledge in faceting, carving and jewellery, and boost marketing and financial access.

The project will focus on the technical, financial, organisational and environmental constraints of ASM through a partnership arrangement for enhancing cooperation between artisanal and industrial miners and through effective integration of the corporate social responsibility functions of industrial mining companies and the budget planning processes of local government.

The new financing will also support the goal of poverty reduction in Tanzania through the development of a viable domestic mining industry and the spreading of the benefits to poor areas where ASM takes place.

Tanzania’s rich mineral endowment has long been considered a potential source of growth and poverty reduction. Encouraging the formalisation and sustainable development of ASM will help boost local entrepreneurship and employment in mining, the World Bank says.