Strathmore Extractives Industry Centre (SEIC) and Aga Khan University- East Africa Institute (AKU- EAI) Present

Transcription

1 Strathmore Extractives Industry Centre (SEIC) and Aga Khan University- East Africa Institute (AKU- EAI) Present The Conference Report 16th February, 2016 BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN EAST AFRICA S EXTRACTIVE IDUSTRIES & ACADEMIA BACKGROUND Academic institutions in East Africa place a great importance to closer interaction with industry and research and development organizations. Some interaction has been witnessed, in the developed countries, between large public and private sector enterprises and academic institutes at a level of industry involvement in technology development. However, industry support in local institutions in Kenya and the broader East African region, even to conduct basic research is almost non-existent. Regardless of the large number of universities, technical graduates and post-graduates added to the workforce each year, it is true that only a small percentage of them are considered employable by the rapidly growing mining, oil and gas industry particularly in a frontier region like Kenya. Hence, the growing gap between academia and industry is reflected on slight availability of high-quality college/university graduates demanded by the industry. This problem can be overcome by having proper collaborative and sustainable industry-academia interactions that help to pass on relevant knowledge and skills that contribute towards the sustainability of the extractives sector. OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE Through the conference held on February 16, 2016 at the Strathmore University, SEIC and Aga Khan University EAI aimed to bring together, for the first in East Africa, industry, academia and relevant stakeholders to explore how academia and industry as well as other stakeholders in the extractive sector can work together to enhance effective governance and management of the sector as well as ensure sustainable flow of benefits to national economies and local communities. 1

2 More specifically, the objectives of the conference included: 1) Articulating the role of academia in the extractive sector; 2) Exploring modalities and mechanisms to facilitate and deepen collaboration between academia and industry; 3) Building capacity of educational structures around the mining, oil and gas industries both nationally and regionally. 4) Increasing companies operational efficiency through joint academic-industry training of its local workforce. 5) Increasing joint research programs between academia and industry. ABOUT STRATHMORE EXTRACTIVES INDUSTRY CENTRE The Strathmore Extractives industry Centre (SEIC) is an autonomous research centre based at the Strathmore University School of Law, for advanced multi-disciplinary university-stakeholder action-based research into the social science areas of oil, gas and mining issues. SEIC seeks to bridge theory and practice in Kenya s (and the broader East Africa region) extractive sector and support constructive dialogue and collaboration on policy initiatives among companies, relevant agencies of government, civil society, and local communities through its key activity of research. Our aim is that research-led co-operation among these varied stakeholders will lead to knowledge promotion of the industry and constructive dialogue on the motivations and objectives of the various economic forces, agents and policy makers that operate in or influence the performance of the extractive sector. ABOUT THE EAST AFRICAN INSTITUTE The East African Institute s provides a coherent and impartial evidence-based platform for policy formulation, decision-making and action to address the challenges and harness the opportunities for adaptive and sustainable social and economic development while ensuring a resilient environmental resource base. Under the Maximizing the Development Impact of Extractive Resources in Kenya (MDIER) project, we promote a culture of evidence-based approaches to design and formulation of policy through the natural resource governance dialogue platform where we facilitate contextually relevant, evidence-based dialogue through roundtables to nurture and strengthen civic engagement, responsive and accountable governance in the extractive sector. It is our hope that the research and evidence-led public engagement will provide a basis for understanding and addressing the barriers to impact investing and inclusive growth in socio-economically depressed but resource-rich areas. We 2

3 believe this approach contributes to the body of reliable evidence to enable stakeholders appreciate fully the risk of a resource curse and work earnestly to enact responsive legislation and build the necessary governance institutions, including strong civil society, to avert the said curse. At present, we are actively engaged with national and our local partner in Turkana to assess local capacities for oil development. Specifically, in assembling evidence to support the expansion of opportunities to leverage local content; supporting capacity of local communities to plan and manage local revenue flows (supporting local grassroots civil society to empower local planning, advocacy and oversight); supporting local government to prioritize development and investments to leverage local revenue receipts (local development fund); and supporting national legislative process, especially around revenue management to contextualize frameworks for good practice legislation. SUMMATION OF CONFERENCE DISCUSSIONS The conference started with a series of presenters ranging from academics, industry members and government policy makers making suggestions on how to bridge the gap between academia and industry members. Suggestions included: ü Putting legislative, fiscal and institutional frameworks in place during this downtime period in the industry so that when the prices go back up, there are structures in place. Linking academia to industry key in advancing technology in the sector and producing high skilled workforce for a globally competitive economy. ü The importance of conducting mapping exercises on the needs, wants and expectations of Kenyans before coming up with development programs. ü Building strategic partnerships between industry and academia in research and capacity building where senior executives and university experts map out together the key questions and research challenges that are of high priority for both. High Level Panel Discussion I: The Role of Academic Collaboration in the Extractive Industry: How Can the East African Academic Landscape Effectively Support the Oil, Gas and Mining Industry? Involving all stakeholders in curriculum development; Academia should aim to produce resilient students who are solution oriented; as well as invest in plant and technology, and ways to mitigate high risks in the sector 3

4 Role of Civil Society could be articulated and also included in the bridging of academia and industry in areas such as advocating for transparency and accountability, involvement in dispute resolution between communities and industry Academia can directly educate the local community on their rights and also how they may enforce those rights as per the dictates of the law. Lack of engagement has been witnessed to lead to stalled projects case in point Kinangop Wind Power project Conduct research to provide information on what is needed at the various levels of the value chain in the industry and build the capacity and skills to meet the said needs. Involving academia in drafting regulations that make provision for technology transfer as current research is concerned with the protection of intellectual property rights. (Thus far, Kenya has only registered 3 IP rights.) Collect and collate industry case studies such as the Base Titanium approach that proves that well articulated and executed community developments lead to sustainable mutual benefit flows. Continue these forums of engagement to encourage exchange of information, ideas and brainstorming as well as serve as feedback loops that enable common areas of interest to emerge. High Level Panel Discussion II: Optimizing Local and National Content in East Africa s Extractives Sector through industryacademia/community partnerships: Defining local content beyond local employment and contracts and re-examining the local supply chain, technical and vocational education. Local Content definitions should be more market driven as opposed to being legally prescribed, only that kind of environment will force the local supplier to be competitive. o The role of government should be to create an enabling environment. o A challenge presented by local content is the definition of community and protection of community rights. o Local content is very much intertwined with social license to operate. There is no universal rule of application for social license; it very much depends on context. o Definition of local in Kenya is likely to bring up the story of indigenous and ethnicity. We need to realize that our unique history poses a challenge when defining certain terms. Perhaps it would be best to start an honest discussion on history and memory and how it relates to trust and ethnicity. 4

5 o It seems that the definition of local content should be fluid although this may pose a challenge for foreign companies who are limited to observing the definition as specified by the national government. Part of the challenge Kenya faces as a country in the extractive sector is the inefficient way it has undertaken policy making. Kenya does not have a participatory approach to national policy making and this is why we have the confusion in our laws. Therefore academia can provide research and engage the public to offer plausible solutions that may influence our laws. Government agencies need to collaborate instead of working in isolation For sustainability, environmental sustenance in the sector is non negotiable. Extractive industries take the natural capital out of the ground with the aim to generate profit. Focusing on sustainable development will help us become stewards of resources. In this regard, academia can help us understand the implications of what extraction will be on the environment in years to come. Given that the industry is diverse as regard to ownership and size (state v. private ownership, large scale v. small scale projects) solutions to challenges will have to take a holistic approach. Break-away Sessions Session 1: Research and Learning; Promoting innovation and technological advancement and new systems to improve the planning and management of the next wave of energy/ minerals driven growth. Highlights ü The private sector needs to be able to look past their actions into the implications of their actions. ü There is an implementation deficit by the governments; ü There is a need to improve its capacity to govern over environmental issues. ü There needs to be an upstream direction on the discussion on environment ü The communities need to be included in the discussion during the policy planning stage. This can only happen through good governance. ü The government needs to be custodian of the environment. This will reduce liabilities, help identify new possibilities and open the debate on a sustainable environmental policy 5

6 Session 2: Education and Capacity Building; Leadership development and mentoring: Enabling future leaders and advanced industry academic collaboration through optimized structures, mentoring and culture change. Highlights Guided by a comparative analysis conference paper that was delivered on the Impact of Artisanal Mining in Family Life, it was clear that academia can bridge the gap by: ü Exposing communities to experiences from other jurisdictions (who went through similar circumstances), which can in turn, easily shape up discourse from an informed perspective. ü Mining companies can play an active role in funding/financing research initiatives aimed at resolving conflicts within the industry. ü The community needs to comprehend project economics and financing before embarking on campaigns against mining corporations that are more often than not, not backed by evidence. ü Academia can lead these discussions by carefully and meticulously crafting capacity building initiatives for community members. Secondly, the session heard from a case summary involving a Kenyan company that brought a matter against the Kenyan state at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The case clearly brought to light the economic dangers of an investment dispute in the sense that dispute resolution can be quite costly and lengthy. It was agreed that Academia can play the neutral umpire role and intervene in disputes before they metastasize. Session 3: Evidence Based Public Engagement; Socio environmental impacts: Advancing University and Industry partnerships towards sustainability of the sector. Highlights ü The private sector must listen to the communities they are working in and address their concerns from the very beginning to avoid conflict after project has began. ü Local communities have limited capacity to partake in local content; however, international oil and mining companies can support them in capacity building to benefit from local content ü It is important for spaces to be created for these kinds of conversations to take place often so that issues of concern are addressed and new ways of engagement are explored 6

7 ü Data collection should not be extractive thus leading to disempowering communities but rather participatory in nature with a clear focus of building skills of local people to utilize the findings of the research. ü There is need to have community participation in ESIA processes. ü Base Titanium presented a model for good community partnerships for development ü Academia should create opportunities for industry and stakeholders with shared interest to come together and develop a dialogue. Formal or Informal exchanges that bring both sides together can spur conversations and lead to new relationships and solutions to pressing social challenges. ü Lastly, there is need for concerted efforts from the government (both national and subnational), the civil society and company to develop the capacity of local communities to understand and situate themselves in the kind of development arising from this sector. The Way Forward: Potential areas of collaboration between Academia and Industry stakeholders include: Effective collaboration between the mining, oil and gas industry and universities will be critical to the industry s economic recovery and sustainable international competitiveness. Industry must also make a sustained effort in supporting higher education by providing the support needed to help students build the employability and technical skills that are so important. The areas in which interaction is possible include industry support to basic research for knowledge creation, industry participation in technology development involving some exploratory work, academic intervention in solving industry problems, laboratory utilization by industry, faculty members' sabbatical leave and industry involvement in curriculum development. Collaboration with industry must be linked to the redefinition of the role of research that extends beyond teaching and public service research to tackling key social challenges in the sector and help drive economic growth. In Particular: I) Capacity building initiatives (Education and Training) o It should not be limited to training technical expertise but should encompass a wide field of experts to support the sector including; lawyers, journalists, engineers, health& safety officers and civil society actors. 7

8 o Most of the training for higher skills in the oil and mining sector happens abroad, in countries such as the UK, Canada and the United States, with a very high price tag. Companies not only have to pay for courses, living and travel expenses abroad but they also have fewer technicians and engineers on site for the duration of the course. The development of competent and skilled workers is vital for a sustainable oil and gas sector. The government has pledged a continuing process to ensure that the oil industry has adequate skilled technicians capable of maintaining and strengthening competent staff in all fields of the industry. Promotion of cooperation between training and development departments and trainees is needed to identify a training programme that provides clear strategies and delivers the best results possible. In addition, training priorities should be reinforced in the sector s strategies. o Sponsor students studying subjects relevant to industrial needs: In addition to the results of the research, these types of relationships allow the industry to cultivate a talent pipeline by providing support for graduate student programs. Includes internships, placements, work experience or projects. o View working with universities as part of core innovation activity in order to address transformative change within the sector. The collaboration and mutual support that universities and petroleum companies provide each other also gives immense benefit and opportunity to individual academics. o Includes conferences or dialogues across the sector in order to enable close ties between industry and academic institutions enables professors and graduate students to undertake research, publish findings, and develop technologies that they otherwise would not have the funds, infrastructure, or data to support. II) Research Initiatives (basic research, applied research and action research) o It should reflect both basic and applied research in; technical aspects of extractives, law and policy, anthropology, environmental assessments, socioeconomic impacts of extractives and the role of civil society, government and non-state actors. o Academia can generate and provide knowledge products, whether research or tools that lead to answering problems being faced by the Extractives Industry. It is important to note that the universities are not serving as extensions of petroleum research and development; rather, universities 8

9 undertake basic research, which falls under broad scientific categories. Insights generated will allow companies and/or organizations to operate more efficiently, sustainably, and knowledgably. o In order to further the development of research or knowledge, industry leaders can integrate an academic research groups into their operational programmes, or can forge collaborative initiatives through joint industrial development teams in order to generate useful research results and solutions. III) Evidence-based public engagement Initiatives o Research and capacity building will enable informed public discourse and consultation among vital stakeholders to generate evidence for policy/ action and enhance better and more accountable management of the extractive sector. o Academia can provide platforms for continuous engagements, both formal and informal, to debate and discuss ideas that in turn can contribute to shaping the industry. o Academia has the ability to unite stakeholders across the board through a platform of neutrality Conclusion To sum up the conference, we note that academia industry collaboration in the extractives sector is fundamental to achieving the intended outcome of shared prosperity through: 1. Enhanced local benefits to host communities 2. Stable investment climate for extractive companies 3. Transparent and accountable management of revenue 4. Enhanced national revenue flows 5. Sustainable flow of vital environmental services 9