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Can Microcredit Services Alleviate Hardship in African Small-scale Mining Communities?

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  • Hilson, Gavin
  • Ackah-Baidoo, Abigail

Abstract

Summary This paper critically examines the challenges with implementing microcredit services for small-scale mine operators--individuals engaged in labor-intensive mineral extraction and/or processing using low-tech methods--in sub-Saharan Africa. The region's policymakers have shied away from launching microcredit programs for small-scale mining, frustrated by the disappointing results of the past and unsure about how to proceed with implementation. Recent efforts to provide microcredit services for operators in Talensi-Nabdam District, Northern Ghana, however, illustrate how with a renewed level of commitment and the development of blueprints which adequately address the appropriate criteria, fairly robust schemes can be launched.

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  • Hilson, Gavin & Ackah-Baidoo, Abigail, 2011. "Can Microcredit Services Alleviate Hardship in African Small-scale Mining Communities?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1191-1203, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:7:p:1191-1203
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    2. Bazillier, Remi & Girard, Victoire, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    3. N’Guessan, Marie Noëlle & Hartarska, Valentina, 2021. "Funding for BOP in Emerging Markets: Organizational Forms and Capital Structures of Microfinance Institutions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Samuel Spiegel & Susan Keane & Steve Metcalf & Marcello Veiga, 2015. "Implications of the Minamata Convention on Mercury for informal gold mining in Sub-Saharan Africa: from global policy debates to grassroots implementation?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 765-785, August.
    5. Kelly, Jocelyn T.D., 2014. "“This mine has become our farmland": Critical perspectives on the coevolution of artisanal mining and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 100-108.
    6. Saldarriaga-Isaza, Adrián & Villegas-Palacio, Clara & Arango, Santiago, 2013. "The public good dilemma of a non-renewable common resource: A look at the facts of artisanal gold mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 224-232.
    7. Kotsadam, Andreas & Tolonen, Anja, 2016. "African Mining, Gender, and Local Employment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 325-339.
    8. Fritz, Morgane M.C. & Maxson, Peter A. & Baumgartner, Rupert J., 2016. "The mercury supply chain, stakeholders and their responsibilities in the quest for mercury-free gold," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 177-192.
    9. Ami A. Meutia & Dianto Bachriadi & Nurfitri Abdul Gafur, 2023. "Environment Degradation, Health Threats, and Legality at the Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining Sites in Indonesia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(18), pages 1-26, September.
    10. Fernando Morante-Carballo & Néstor Montalván-Burbano & Maribel Aguilar-Aguilar & Paúl Carrión-Mero, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Research on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-29, July.
    11. Mark L. Wilson & Elisha Renne & Carla Roncoli & Peter Agyei-Baffour & Emmanuel Yamoah Tenkorang, 2015. "Integrated Assessment of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana — Part 3: Social Sciences and Economics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-24, July.
    12. Paschal, Makungu & Kauangal, Jignesh, 2023. "Women position in artisanal and small-scale mining in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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