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

Gavin Hilson and Abigail Ackah-Baidoo

World Development, 2011, vol. 39, issue 7, 1191-1203

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.

Keywords: microcredit; artisanal; and; small-scale; mining; (ASM); sub-Saharan; Africa; poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:7:p:1191-1203

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