News

February 7, 2023

GATJ Participates in the Alternative Mining Indaba 2023

The Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) will join community leaders, civil society organisations and activists at the Alternative Mining Indaba 2023 (AMI) from 7 to 9 February, in Cape Town (South Africa). Under the theme “A just energy transition: Unlocking community potential and participation”, the AMI aims to strengthen calls for solidarity on a people-centred and environmentally sustainable just energy transition. Throughout the three days of gathering, the event will seek to promote dialogue and analysis of the impacts of the extractives in Africa, as well as knowledge and information sharing, so that participants can find pathways in the just green energy transition to improve lives and livelihoods. 

“The AMI is an important engagement space for GATJ, as it provides us with the opportunity to meet in solidarity and collaboratively mobilise towards a more just future. Not only it enriches our work, but also allows us to link the local and global tax justice issues, as we come up with alternatives to the failing capitalist system,” said Riska Koopman, Policy Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator, who is representing GATJ at the event. 

On the occasion, Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) – GATJ’s regional network in the continent – will co-convene a side session on 7 February, from 1:30 – 3:30 pm South African Standard Time. This will be an opportunity to launch the report “Rethinking the Africa Mining Vision amid the Energy Transition”, together with the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Oxfam Kenya.

Panellists from the organisations will share highlights of the report, and discuss how Africa can leverage domestic resource mobilisation for value addition, sector linkages, job creation and overall participation across the extractive value chain. Those who are not attending the AMI in person can participate in the session online by registering here. 

The extractive sector has for decades acted without impunity because it has not been held accountable for its tax or environmental injustices. As GATJ highlighted during the last edition of the Global Days of Action for Tax Justice in the Extractives, net profits of the 40 largest mining corporations in 2022 grew by 127% compared to 2021, surpassing their pre-pandemic revenues by more than double. This has, however, not translated to increases in real wages or protections for mining-affected communities. 

“As the world faces multiple and intersecting crises, mining-affected communities in the global South continue to be left with little or no access to social safety nets, quality public services and opportunity for upward economic mobility. These conversations at the AMI are timely, seeking alternatives which centre on people over profits,” highlighted Koopman. 

According to Mukupa Nsenduluka, AMI 2023 Chairperson and TJNA Policy Officer for Tax and Natural Resource Governance, policies to achieve climate resilience and a just energy transition in Africa can only work if they prioritise the voices, demands and needs of the most marginalised and excluded communities of Africa.