Resource Nationalism and Community Benefits

Abstract

Resource nationalism has been an area of interest among researchers and policy makers at local and global levels. This is triggered by the fact that governments and various stakeholders are interested in determining how natural resources benefit individual citizens in their countries. This paper draws from a study that investigated the role of resource nationalism in improving community benefits in Geita region, Tanzania. Data collection was conducted through questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and documentary review. Results from the study revealed that local community benefits in terms of revenue collections and projects being implemented have increased. For instance, in a period of four years (2017/18 to 2020/21) after the enactment of mining laws of 2017, a total of TZS663bn was collected as compared to TZS197bn collected for the same period before the enactment of the mining laws. As per the number of projects implemented through CSR, the results indicated that it increased from 15 in 2014/15 to 129 in 2020/21; covering sectors such as education, health, infrastructure and the empowerment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, the paper reveals that there have been improvements in community participation as compared to previous years; and recommends more improvements in community participation and transparency in corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects to ensure its sustainability. It also recommends policy actions for setting the amount of CSR for mining companies to contribute