Eritrea Mining CB

The African Legal Support Facility (“ALSF” or “Facility”) has been providing legal and technical assistance to the Government of Eritrea since 2017 within the framework of Capacity Building in the mining sector. The ALSF assistance help the State of Eritrea achived important milestone highlighted in an activity and recommendations report issued at the completion phase of the project. Specifically, the legal expert (ENS Africa) was tasked with the following activities i) reviewing the current model exploration and mining development agreements, ii) reviewing the current regulatory framework that apply to conducting mining activities in the State of Eritrea, iii) to issue a legislative review report and a sectorial mining toolkit to be used in negotiating mining agreements, and finally iv) host a training seminar on the current regulatory and the use of the toolkit and anxilary issues. On 4 June 2019, ENS Africa issued a final report on the current regulatory framework to the Implementing Agency which took into account the capacity building workshop. The report identified issues in relation to the regulation of the mining sector in Eritrea in respect of mineral regulation; environmental regulation; mine health and safety and mining tax. For instance, it was recommended improving the implementation of existing laws and contracts through use of implementation tools. In regard to environmental regulation, the report identified further instruments that need to be introduced to improve the regulatory framework. The legal counsel also recommend that a health and safety chapter be drafted to be inserted into the mining proclamation and until such time that this is enacted, that health and safety issues be dealt with in the agreements entered into with mining companies. In regard to mining tax, the legal counsel recommended an update to the mining tax proclamation identifying specific issues to be addressed. Accordingly, it was proposed to the Implementing Agency that supplementary advisory services be requested from the ALSF to assist the Implementing Agency with enacting amendments to several proclamations regulating the mining sector in Eritrea. This led to ALSF receiving two additional requests for the environment sector and the mining sector.