Titanium mining in Kwale Kenya

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Environmental destruction and victimization of Kenya comes in the wake of augmented

competition between China and the West for Africas and Kenyas natural mineral wealth. The
presence and influence of the Chinese has risen in the past decade in Africa. All levels of
developing economies in Africa have been penetrated by the Chinese as they offer investment
and aid in return for minerals in Africa. This has taken place despite presence of Western
countries which are the investing and traditional partners of Africa. The Western and Chinese
companies are also responsible for wrecking Kenyan environment as well as African continent in
their search for minerals. The expanding influence Chinese have on mineral exploitation as well
as investment in African is set to spike up the anxiety level regarding exploitation levels as well
as victimization of the locals.
African countries are known as the new frontiers growth to global economy as they offer
significant opportunities for growth that cannot be found elsewhere. The growth of economic,
social and political integration of Western and Chinese countries into Africa will trigger changes
in existing order that facilitates exploitation of the African countries. The project of titanium
mining in Kwale Kenya is a good case study of the manner in which western companies apply
their capital for purposes of exploiting African countries that are technologically and capital
poor.

The project of Titanium mining in Kwale Kenya has a lifespan of approximately thirteen years.
After years of false starts and controversies, the project began in 2013, October. Despite so much
fanfare at the start of the process of mining, the future of the project does not sit well with
development of Kwale and Kenya as a whole. Titanium mining applies strip mining. Over the
duration of the project, the company is going to excavate land in order to remove soil that
contains the mineral ore. As a result, the land left behind will be unproductive which means it
will be of no use once the project is completed. The company is not going to carry out land
reclamation as such it is going to leave pits that are open and dangerous to animals and the
people alike.
The income projected to arise from the project will begin to drop after 2 years from its
commissioning. This time, it will be shorter than the duration it takes for the company to break
even. This means the expected royalties from the mining project will be minimal. The benefits of
the mining project to development of Kenya therefore are limited. The new Kenyan constitution
led to creation of county governments and Kwale County is one of the poorest in the country.
The income expected to come from royalties does not, in any way match to environmental
degradation resulting from the project.
Historically, African countries have regulatory regimes that are weak. The oversight is weak as a
result of rampant corruption on part of those entrusted to protect the interests of the people.
Western companies largely influence passing of laws by affecting operations through bribing
corrupt individuals so they can change laws. International mining agreements as well are
complex. African countries do not have the expertise or the capital needed to exploit their
mineral resources which are abundant. Western companies also use delegations that are high
powered to pressure the African governments to move fast and offer mining concessions without
any due process. Sometimes, these companies will even offer incentives to the elite, hence not
benefiting ordinary citizens in order to speed the process involved in acquisition of the mining
licenses.
African countries are supposed to stand up as well as protect interests of citizens from
exploitation. They should pass some modern laws that regulate mineral exploitation. Majority of
the African countries also still use mining laws that were inherited from colonial governments.
These laws are Eurocentric and not aimed at protecting the interests of the locals. African
countries are supposed to place emphasis on reclamation of land and use of mining practices that
are safe. In the effort to cut down on costs and increase profitability, Western countries often use
cheap mining techniques in order to extract minerals. These techniques are not friendly to the
environment and they also lead to wanton environmental destruction.
The practice of accountability and openness in awarding and bidding tenders to exploit minerals
is of great importance. Most of the African countries enter into exclusive and secretive mining
agreements with western companies. There is no thorough scrutiny to ensure the country gets the
best deal. Secrecy of negotiations also opens the door that leads to abuse of the process. The
negotiators who are few are comprised easily and this leads to signing of deals that are lopsided.
In order to guard against this, mining agreements are supposed to be open to scrutiny by the
public before the government commits to any deal.

The Kenyan government can serve as the role model by coming up with new mining deals that
should be struck throughout Africa. The country has already promulgated a new constitution
which gives guidelines on sharing and exploitation of sharing mineral wealth. The country
should also enact legislation that explicitly sets how agreements on mining will come into force.
Recently, Kenya was in the news due to viable oil deposits that were discovered within its
borders. For a large number of African countries, oil discovery has proven to be a curse instead
of a blessing. It is going to be interesting to see whether Kenya will use oil resources that were
discovered recently to provide the leadership that is needed within the African continue to
exploit resources without conflict.

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