Regional Forum

World University Service of Canada -Ghana (WUSC Ghana) a Canadian non-governmental organization focused on economic empowerment of youth and women, will be hosting a regional forum, highlighting key results and learnings from one of its consortium projects, the West Africa Governance and Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas Project (WAGES Project). The WAGES project is co-implemented by the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) and funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The forum will be taking place in Accra from November 30th till December 2nd at Alisa Hotel; hosting a wide array of dignitaries and strategic partners, including: the Canadian High Commission, Chamber of Mines of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Guinea, Women in Mining Ghana (WIM Ghana), Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the Mineral Development Fund (MDF) , Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency initiative (GHEITI), and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) among various regional partners, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions.

With a theme of “Maximizing socio-economic benefits from Extractive Areas for Women and Youth Entrepreneurs – Connect, Collaborate, Scale-up” the forum will provide a platform for the sharing of knowledge, the exchange of best practices, and promote good dialogue between the various regional actors in local governance, sustainable economic development, and the challenges and opportunities for women and youth in the extractive sector.

WAGES Project

The WAGES Project is a regional project, implemented in Ghana, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, with an aim to break the vicious cycle in which local communities, especially women and youth, are excluded from the benefits of mining investments. Additionally, the project works to ensure the participation of local communities, specifically, the integration of women and youth in the governance of natural resources, entrepreneurship, and the sustainable development of these areas. Working in partnership with communities, local government, private sector, and other stakeholders, the project enables communities, particularly women and youth, to maximize the socio-economic benefits from extractive resource investment in West Africa. Throughout its six years of implementation, the project focused on three pillars of intervention in extractive communities – local economic development, knowledge sharing, and local governance. The WAGES project utilized a community-based approach, in which it partnered directly with local governments across the three countries, to support community needs. In an attempt to keep community members at a forefront, the project supported developing toolkits for local governments and enterprises, formulating women’s support groups and youth support groups, to help advocate for their economic and social rights.

Major highlights in local economic development interventions

Throughout its five years of implementation, the WAGES Project has boasted some remarkable intervention outcomes through its local economic development interventions, across the three countries. Across the three countries, over 85% of all female and youth beneficiaries surveyed expressed an increase in their ability to make economic occupation decisions themselves. Something that is essential to a segment of society that is often overlooked and marginalized. Moreover, the WAGES project directly supported entrepreneurs in extractive communities by partnering with entities such as the Ghana Enterprises Agency (formerly NBSSI) and its Business Advisory Centers (BAC’s) in the district assemblies to train entrepreneurs on how to start, manage, and grow their businesses. The same approach was adopted in Guinea and Burkina Faso, partnering with government entities and NGOs to train young entrepreneurs on business development and entrepreneurship. The training gave entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn about business planning, branding, marketing, communications, and even production of green economy products, such as mushroom growing and blake soap manufacturing. Providing the necessary tools for business growth and development for entrepreneurs was necessary for the project, and it proved to be essential. In Burkina Faso, 33.8% of businesses supported by WAGES reported growth in sales and revenue, with higher rates of 56.5% growth and 61.4% growth in Ghana and Guinea respectively.

• Gov’t to leverage natural resources to fund sustainable transition to low carbon economy
• ECOWAS to hold conference on West African Food Security Storage System

In order to enhance local economic development, and through partnership with Global Affairs Canada, the project was able to disburse over CAD $ 300,000 across the three countries in direct grant support for female and youth entrepreneurs. The regional forum will be looking closely at those results.

Major highlights in local governance interventions

Mineral royalties and revenues are an essential lifeline of mining communities. Mining companies often pay dividends to local governments as part of their lease agreements and their contributions to communities. These revenues must be held accountable by community members, and thus the project was able to facilitate dialogue between local governments, community members, and administrators of mineral royalty funds to ensure the economic participation of women and youth through these funds. In Guinea, the project worked closely with civil society organization Ami Camara, to reframe the royalty policy of Guinea to at least allocate 30% of mineral royalties to women and youth led businesses. This was a massive feat for the project.

While the same monumental result was not achieved in Ghana and Burkina Faso; in Ghana, 97.7% of community members surveyed report an increase in their knowledge of policies, standards and best practices related to transparent governance and citizen participation. More importantly 64% of surveyed community members claim to have increased trust in their local government. Those qualitative findings were different in Burkina Faso, with those percentages being 54% and 73% respectively. These are essential indicators, especially in extractive communities where often trust in government interventions can be minimal.

Major highlights in local governance interventions

Mineral royalties and revenues are an essential lifeline of mining communities. Mining companies often pay dividends to local governments as part of their lease agreements and their contributions to communities. These revenues must be held accountable by community members, and thus the project was able to facilitate dialogue between local governments, community members, and administrators of mineral royalty funds to ensure the economic participation of women and youth through these funds. In Guinea, the project worked closely with civil society organization Ami Camara, to reframe the royalty policy of Guinea to at least allocate 30% of mineral royalties to women and youth led businesses. This was a massive feat for the project.

While the same monumental result was not achieved in Ghana and Burkina Faso; in Ghana, 97.7% of community members surveyed report an increase in their knowledge of policies, standards and best practices related to transparent governance and citizen participation. More importantly 64% of surveyed community members claim to have increased trust in their local government. Those qualitative findings were different in Burkina Faso, with those percentages being 54% and 73% respectively. These are essential indicators, especially in extractive communities where often trust in government interventions can be minimal.

An event for market linkages

Aside from sharing project results and giving a full platform for community members and international organizations to share their experiences and thoughts; the regional forum will also offer an exhibition for entrepreneurs to sell their products at the forum. With over 20 entrepreneurs in attendance from the three countries, there will be a wide array of products displayed, ranging from jewelry, beauty products and creams to nutritional products.

There will be multiple breakout sessions as well with presentations and modules run by WAGES Project partners, such as GEA, FODEL, WIM, and the IFC. While in-person attendance is by invitation only; anyone may register to join the forum online, including all breakout sessions using the eventbrite page:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wages-regional-forum-2021-tickets-211112722837