World Bank, partners and young African lawyers celebrate 10th anniversary of African Mining Legislation Atlas Project

The World Bank in partnership with the African Legal Support Facility, and University of Pretoria are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) Workshop, with over 60 young African lawyers. The AMLA Workshop is an Africa-wide knowledge and capacity-building initiative with a focus on building specialized legal expertise in mining law. 

The workshop which brings together more than 100 participants, including law students from all five regions of Africa, as well as program alumni, academic institution representatives, and partners is taking place from December 1-9 at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa campus.

Since its inception, the AMLA Workshop has trained over 280 law students from across the continent and this year’s Workshop brings together participants from countries for which the mining sector is a critical industry, including—but not limited to—Burkina Faso, DRC, Guinea, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

“AMLA’s impact over the past 10 years demonstrates the value of leveraging partnerships among legal practitioners and other development stakeholders to support Africa’s legal and regulatory frameworks in a critical sector for development,” said Christopher Stephens, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group. 

The AMLA Workshop also closely aligns with the World Bank’s Knowledge Compact for Action, which underscores the importance of strengthening knowledge-sharing networks and partnerships, fostering capacity development, and supporting the creation of effective and sustainable structures to address the global challenges of poverty and inequality. The Workshop reaffirms the World Bank’s commitment to a 21st century knowledge architecture for transforming ideas into impact. 

“Capacity-building is an essential piece of the World Bank’s operations in Africa and AMLA is a good example of how capacity building can be used to empower stakeholders to advance transparency and good governance in Africa’s mining sector especially as the region contends with increased global demands for transition minerals,” said Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for South Africa.

This year’s event marks the 10th anniversary of AMLA and the final training delivered by the World Bank—through the Legal Vice Presidency, Energy and Extractives Global Department, and the Africa Region—as part of a special partnership initiative with the African Legal Support Facility (a public international institution of the African Development Bank Group), universities across Africa including the University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Lubumbashi, and New Horizons University, Lubumbashi, law firms, mining companies, and various other global stakeholders who collaborate to deliver expert training on the complexities of mining law and governance.

“As the world’s efforts towards addressing climate change continue to drive demand for metals and minerals in Africa, our commitment to supporting the use of Africa’s minerals for the development of Africa requires specialized skills including legal skills and AMLA has done a remarkable job of building specialized legal skills among young professionals from across the region,” said Demetrios Papathanasiou, Global Director for the World Bank’s Energy and Extractives Global Practice. 

“The University of Pretoria is honoured to host the 10th anniversary of the African Mining Legislation Atlas Workshop, a significant milestone in advancing specialised legal expertise across Africa. This initiative exemplifies the transformative power of collaboration, bringing together diverse voices to strengthen legal frameworks in the mining sector—one of the continent’s most critical drivers of development. We are proud to be part of this partnership that invests in the next generation of African legal practitioners and fosters inclusive, sustainable progress,” said Professor Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria.

“The Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, welcomes all stakeholders and participants to the 10th AMLA Workshop, which has played such a crucial role in building capacity amongst stakeholders in the mining sector over the last decade. In adopting an inter- and transdisciplinary approach, the Workshop generates knowledge and expertise across disciplines, harnessing theory and practice to respond to the challenges of sustainability and climate change, while advancing transparency and justice on the African continent. Importantly, the Workshop brings together a vast and diverse number of stakeholders, breaking down the silos and building capacity amongst young professionals, as well as promoting collaborations and partnerships on a continental and a global level” said Elsabe Schoeman, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria. 

About the African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA)

Launched in 2014 at the World Bank in partnership with the African Legal Support Facility, the African Union Commission, and several law faculties in Africa, AMLA was conceived in response to the need for increased transparency in Africa’s mining sector and the demand for sound and stable legislative frameworks to drive sustainable and responsible mining and to maximize the development benefits of mining for African countries. Over its 10-year history, the initiative has empowered stakeholders in Africa through its multi-prong approach that focuses on (1) promoting transparency, accessibility, and comparison of Africa’s mining laws, (2) facilitating the preparation, revision, and implementation of mining laws, (3) providing a living database to catalyze research and policy debates on legal and regulatory issues, and (4) promoting the development of local legal expertise on mining laws.

The AMLA initiative encompasses three core components:

• AMLA Platform: A free online repository providing access to Africa’s mining codes, regulations, and related legislation. It features interactive tools for comparing mining laws across the continent.
• Knowledge Products: AMLA produces essential resources and has produced the “Guiding Template,” a tool that supports African countries in drafting and revising their mining laws to align with best practices.
• Capacity Building: Through its annual workshops, AMLA trains law students from resource-rich African countries, equipping them with the legal expertise to navigate and shape mining legislation for sustainable growth.

For more information about AMLA and to explore the full range of its knowledge products, please visit www.a-mla.org.

Support: The AMLA Project is supported by the Extractives Governance Programmatic Support Trust Fund, the African Legal Support Facility and the pro bono support of the AMLA partners.

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