Downstream Beneficiation of Extractive Resources
- Lead PI:
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Unit Affiliation: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)
- Unknown start date - Ongoing
- Active
- Oceania ; Asia ; Africa ; Australia ; Japan ; Oman ; South Africa ; Ukraine ; Netherlands ; Nigeria ; Singapore ; Botswana ; Indonesia
- Project Type: Research
DESCRIPTION: There is a growing sense among the ‘emerging’ natural resource-producing countries that the raw materials should be processed domestically rather than being exported in its unprocessed form. Downstream beneficiation is considered an opportunity to develop the domestic economy by creating jobs, enhancing skills and diversifying the economy. Large incentives are often offered to investors to build ‘first degree’ downstream industries such as steel plants, aluminum smelters or oil refineries. Yet little has been written about the prerequisites for such policies to succeed and the extent to which downstream beneficiation achieves the intended economic and social goals. This research project aims to fill this gap.