Mining companies turn to arbitration over West African disputes

The military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — which all came to power following coups in the last few years — have sought a larger share of revenues from their mineral resources.

Mali wants to renegotiate existing contracts in line with new mining laws that require state and private interests in projects to rise from 20% to 35%. The laws were implemented after authorities reviewed the country’s mining code in 2023. Burkina Faso late last year said it planned to strip some foreign firms of permits, and Niger has also revoked permits.

Typically, contracts involving international mining companies stipulate that disputes must be resolved through the ICSID, a World Bank institution, or the International Chamber of Commerce, in Paris.

But documents seen by Semafor showed that some of the mining companies agreed contracts under which arbitration would take place in West African courts. Under Orano’s contract at Imouraren, disputes should start with the Common Justice and Arbitration Court in Abidjan (CCJA), and, if they remain unresolved, should progress to the international chamber of commerce in Senegal.

The approach reflects growing distrust among African governments of international arbitration where cases are heard in Europe and North America, due to concerns over a perceived bias towards Western companies. In the most high-profile such case of recent years, an arbitration tribunal in London ruled in 2017 that Nigeria must pay $6.6 billion, which rose to $11 billion with interest, to a relatively unknown company called Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) for breach of contract over a gas plant that was never built.

The new push for arbitration will test the effectiveness of the CCJA in resolving disputes.

Even before seizing control of Barrick’s operations, Mali’s government had pursued strongarm tactics in its push to secure a greater share of mining revenues and settle disputes with mining companies. In November, Australian firm Resolute Mining agreed to pay Mali’s military government $160 million to settle a tax disagreement. It followed the detention of its CEO Terrence Holohan and two other executives.

The Sahelian arbitration disputes are only one dimension of a much bigger global contest for African mineral wealth. China is the “dominant player” on the continent, wrote Uche Igwe, a visiting fellow at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at the London School of Economics, importing roughly a third of Africa’s minerals and metals, worth nearly $17 billion, in 2020 alone.