Communities of place, mining multinationals and sustainable development in Africa

Communities of Place (CofP11Appendix One lists the abbreviations used in this paper to ease readers’ comprehension.) members’ rights concerning their livelihoods, social structures and sustainability empower them to judge the legitimacy of a mining MNE’s “social license to operate” by demanding efficacious, just CSR programs and projects. Many eyes monitor whether mining companies pursue sustainable development, but no eyes are more important than those of CofP, whose lands surround mining operations, and those of artisanal miners (ASM), whose livelihoods depend on access to mining sites. Their rights have been recognized in UN programs such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Conducting a longitudinal qualitative case study examining mining MNEs, CofP situations and country-level contexts in Tanzania and the DRC, we consider mining MNEs’ success and failure in pursuing SDGs. "We sketch how efficacious CSR, monitoring, and "political will" have been necessary conditions in mining MNEs’ efforts to promote SDGs." •Successful CSR programs address those social problems of Communities of Place [CofP] members’ which mining MNEs exacerbate.•Some MNEs will pursue SDGs where governmental institutions are weak due to an MNE’s sense of a “social license to operate.”•Nationwide success of SDGs depends upon response to CofP demands by MNEs and governments, each manifesting political will.