2025 Summer University on the Governance of Extractive Industries by CEGIEAF

On this occasion, Yannick Bouterige, research assistant at FERDI, presented the major challenges of the extractive sector, the main fiscal and parafiscal instruments used to tax mining and petroleum activities, and the importance of assessing tax systems as a whole by estimating rent sharing. 

The Center of Excellence for the Governance of Extractive Industries in Francophone Africa (CEGIEAF), based at the Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC), in partnership with the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), organized the 14th edition of its Summer University on the Governance of Extractive Industries. The event was held online from July 15 to 26, 2025, under the theme: "Overcoming Fossil Fuel Dependence and Ensuring Equitable Governance of Transition Minerals in Francophone Africa."

Yannick Bouterige (FERDI) gave a presentation on July 22, 2025, focused on extractive taxation and rent sharing. While two-thirds of African countries can be considered rich in natural resources, taxing the extractive sector remains a major challenge. The mining and petroleum sectors have many specific features—such as high and irrecoverable investment costs, commodity price volatility, and high uncertainty—that require tailored tax systems.

The fiscal framework, which includes various tax and parafiscal instruments (such as mining royalties, production sharing, and corporate income tax), must therefore be carefully designed. Before any tax reform or contract negotiation, it is crucial to estimate the rent sharing (i.e., the share of economic rent captured by the state) resulting from the fiscal system, in order to assess whether it aligns with the government’s policy objectives.