Trade-offs between growth, sustainability and justice in Senegal's "desert" mining

The extraction of critical minerals in Senegal highlights the complex trade-offs between economic growth, environmental sustainability and social equity. Projects like the French-led Eramet Grande Côte (EGC) have led to environmental degradation, threats to livelihoods and community tensions, exacerbated by weak law enforcement and suppressed activism. This policy note calls for stronger governance, community inclusion and sustainable mining practices.

papa sow, senior researcher, The Nordic Africa Institute

Critical minerals are essential for the development of clean energy technologies, such as solar panels, wind power and electric vehicles. Green transition policies across the world have led to an increase in global demand for these minerals. The World Bank predicts a 500 per cent increase External link, opens in new window. in the production of minerals such as graphite, lithium and cobalt by 2050. There is a creeping concern that the scramble for resources could create tense geopolitical rivalries, and that access to critical minerals will end up in the hands of a few superpowers, to the detriment of the Global South. There is also concern that the critical minerals race will have a negative impact on the environment and will compound climate risks, since extraction of these minerals frequently generates significant toxic waste and pollutes soil and groundwater.

Zircon and ilmenite mining in Senegal

Gold and hydrocarbons account for most of the value of Senegal’s mineral exports, but critical minerals are an expanding domain. The country produces a range of these minerals – among them zircon and ilmenite, two minerals found mainly in coastal areas of the north-west. Together, zircon and ilmenite/titanium account for only 11 per cent of the total value of Senegal’s mineral exports External link, opens in new window., but that share has been growing rapidly over the past decade.

Zircon is extracted from black sand deposits that are particularly rich in heavy minerals, using complex dredging or dry-mining techniques. Senegal has among the largest reserves in the world External link, opens in new window.. Zircon is used primarily in nuclear fuel cladding tubes, glass, ceramics, varnishes and tiles. The industrial processing of zircon takes place outside Senegal, for example in Norway External link, opens in new window..

Ilmenite is a titanium mineral used in the aerospace industry, medicine, chemistry, plastics, cosmetics, and electronic and semiconductor components. It is open-pit mined and the processing requires significant quantities of water. It produces residual waste that is a serious pollutant of groundwater and that causes disease. Those most impacted are the communities surrounding the mining sites.

Project Eramet Grande Côte

Like many mineral-rich African countries, Senegal has attracted significant foreign investment to its mining sector. The Senegalese state has authorised the project Eramet Grande Côte (EGC) External link, opens in new window. – which is 90 per cent controlled by the French multinational mining company Eramet and 10 per cent by the Senegalese state – to exploit zircon, ilmenite and other heavy mineral sand deposits. The exploitation area extends along a narrow band in the Thiès and Louga regions on the Atlantic coast, between Dakar and Saint Louis. Some of the lands have been annexed from farmers. The 25-year exploitation concession was awarded in 2006 and will last until 2032 External link, opens in new window..

Attempts by previous governments to exploit these minerals in Casamance, a region in the south of the country with a long history of violent separatist movements, resulted in protests by local people, intent on defending their traditional livelihoods against mining and its environmental impact. Some of the protests in Casamance resulted in violence and casualties External link, opens in new window.. In 2017, for example, the Senegalese army escorted representatives of the Chinese-Australian company Astron and Carnegie Ltd External link, opens in new window. to Niafourang, a coastal village in Casamance, to initiate a controversial zircon mining project. The Niafourang mineral sands project External link, opens in new window. sparked local protests and reignited tensions in a region already marked by decades of conflict between the Senegalese government and a separatist movement, threatening a fragile truce known as the accalmie.

The mining method of dredging means that the operations move from year to year, destroying livelihood activities along the way.

The tensions in Casamance demonstrate why the northern coast was chosen for extraction in the EGC project. The villages of Diogo and Lompoul, including their surrounding areas – with a population of more than 40,000 – are today the most impacted by the EGC mining. The mining method of dredging means that the operations move from year to year, destroying livelihood activities along the way. Some of the sand sucked up in the dredge contains only 2 per cent zircon External link, opens in new window.. In Diogo and Lompoul, mining has been going on for several years and is due to continue until 2028 External link, opens in new window.. The mobile mine, with its dredging machines whose pipes are connected to a huge water basin, stretches for over a kilometre. It moves 30 metres a day, and approximately 3,500 truckloads of sand are delivered daily by the dredger External link, opens in new window.. Each movement destroys the dunes, encroaches on agricultural areas and damages the reforestation efforts undertaken since the 1950s to combat erosion. Such destruction of the natural environment is described by the local population and climate activists as a form of ‘ecocide’. External link, opens in new window.

Threats to tourism and other livelihoods

EGC mining has attracted migrants to this part of the country, putting pressure on the local population. It also poses a threat to the local population’s livelihood – especially market gardening, Fulani livestock keeping, fishing and tourism.

Tourism has long been a significant source of revenue for the local population, as tourists are attracted to the region’s spectacular dune landscapes. It is, however, under threat from sand mining. Since the early 1980s, tourism entrepreneurs have coined the idea of ‘desert tourism’. Unlike other arid and semi-arid Sahelian areas, which are now plagued by armed conflict, this part of Senegal has become a safe hiking area, visited by people from all over the world. Visitors are housed in haimas, a type of Mauritanian-style tent woven from camel wool that can withstand sandstorms.

The rapid advance of zircon mining has threatened to shut down existing tourism and agricultural activities around mining sites, through the threat of dispossession and ‘relocation’ of the local populations. Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector have repeatedly protested to local and state authorities, refused compensation offered by the EGC multinational and demonstrated loudly in an effort to make their voices heard.

They are not seeking to win their case in court, but to silence their targets, often exposing them to financial exhaustion.

Hostility toward activists

Activists, journalists and intellectuals supporting the local populations have been violently harassed. Some have been arbitrarily arrested External link, opens in new window., imprisoned for a few days and then released with suspended jail sentences. Threats are common, especially against activists and the press reporting on the scene. To carry out their threats, mining multinationals are taking legal action through Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) measures – unfounded and abusive legal action that aims to muzzle human rights activists and others. They are not seeking to win their case in court, but to silence their targets, often exposing them to financial exhaustion. This leads to a lengthy legal process, in which the battle is often unequal.

Adverse environmental and social impacts

The environmental degradation in Lompoul and Diogo results from a combination of the recent mining of zircon and ilmenite and long-term climate change External link, opens in new window.. Faced with irregular rainfall, violent winds, rising temperatures and coastal erosion, the disappearance of certain wildlife and plant species, Lompoul and Diogo (and their environs) are subject to significant disruption External link, opens in new window. to their ecosystems, accentuated by human actions. The effects of these developments risk spilling over to many different sectors, causing a multi-faceted crisis that could impact more than 40,000 people.

In addition to environmental and social crises, there is also the danger that traditional natural and cultural landscapes will be irrevocably destroyed: for example, centuries-old paths created by the ancestors of the local populations. Such destruction disrupts people’s sense of belonging and has the potential to cause a feeling of cultural alienation, with adverse effects on social cohesion and young people’s hopes for the future.

The company’s position

Responding to allegations that its actions are depriving people of their livelihood, EGC points out that its mine employs nearly 2,000 people External link, opens in new window., 97 per cent of whom are Senegalese. And in response to the accusations of ‘ecocide’, it refers to a major restoration project – ‘Desert Oasis’ External link, opens in new window. – that will restore the land once the dredger has passed, and establish new tourist camps to replace the old ones. According to EGC, this project will ‘compensate’ the local population. The tourist camps will be managed by a Senegalese state company, SAPCO (Société d’Aménagement et de Promotion des Côtes et zones touristique du Sénégal). The plan is to create jobs for the local population, open up opportunities for domestic and foreign investors, and above all promote the activities of Senegalese migrant entrepreneurships who want to make investments back in Senegal. Such a promise cannot, however, replace the widespread destruction of the thousand-year-old geomorphological formations created by natural erosion, or compensate for the forced displacement (‘relocation’) of the local population, who have had to abandon everything to go and live elsewhere. EGC returned 1,000 hectares of 'fully rehabilitated land' (sic) with 300 plants per hectare to the local population in November 2025, following an initial return of 85 hectares in 2022.

Weak law enforcement leads to conflict

Senegal’s mining code, developed in 2003 and revised in 2016, is designed to address environmental and social impacts. In practice, however, government policies aiming to attract investment often take priority over its enforcement. The previous governments granted foreign firms long-term leases (10 to 25 years or more) and tax incentives External link, opens in new window., especially during the exploration phase, to encourage investment. The framework for law enforcement is well designed in principle: the government – or more specifically, the Ministry of Mines – oversees implementation through delegations to the National Agency of Geology (ANG) External link, opens in new window. and the Bureau of Mining Research (BRM). But the scheme is poorly applied, due to weak institutional capacity. External link, opens in new window.

The mining code distinguishes between the exploration and the exploitation phases of mining. To explore – i.e. to search potentially profitable mining lands for the purposes of discovering mineral resources – you need a permit. To exploit – i.e. to use lands to extract minerals – you need a concession. To obtain permits and concessions, the code requires all national and multinational companies to conduct environmental and social impact studies and to propose measures to mitigate any adverse impact.

One of the key points of the code is to promote the participation of local communities, so that they, too, can take part in the mining management and benefit from the mineral dividends. The code clearly sets out the taxes, royalties and contributions owed by mining companies and provides for a distribution of dividends between the state, local authorities and the populations living near the exploited sites. The code requires multinationals to assign priority to national subcontractors, and encourages the use of local goods and services, as well as training and preferential employment for Senegalese workers. The law also codifies the principles of sustainability and social justice, through transparency rules and other regulations. However, unlike mining regulations in most other countries of the region, in the 2016 revision of its mining code External link, opens in new window. Senegal did not impose requirements like mandatory local processing or strict foreign ownership limits.

Despite the code’s sustainability and social justice principles, enforcement is still weak, and conflict often arises over land use, deforestation, pollution and overextraction.

Lessons learnt

Rising international demand for heavy mineral sands, like zircon and titanium/ilmenite, illustrate how the global green transition can have a profoundly negative environmental and social impact on local populations in African countries, such as Senegal. Trade-offs between growth, sustainability and justice seem inevitable. However, it does not have to be this way. With full implementation of the existing mining code, driven by effective government oversight, the adverse social and environmental consequences could be reduced, and local populations could reap the benefits of mining for the green transition.

Policy recommendations

Mining companies should:

• Comply with the mining code. This includes involving those communities impacted by respecting the submission of their reporting plans on the E-CNSCL electronic platform – National Committee for Monitoring Local Content, following the 2024 guidelines – and the SNDCLSM document – National Strategy for the Development of Local Content in the Mining Sector.
• Mark up polluted areas. After each abandoned mining activity, the mining companies should set up markers for polluted areas that can serve as guides for people to avoid contracting diseases.
• Tackle environmental damage. The companies have to take remedial action to mitigate pollution and environmental destruction.

The Senegalese government should:

• Enforce the law and promote dialogue between the parties involved. The first step is to stop the threats and SLAPP measures taken by EGC.
• Secure the inclusion of local communities. Support their participation in decision making and secure their legal share of the mining dividends.
• Build domestic processing capacity. Senegal must reduce its dependence on foreign companies for processing critical minerals, by prioritising processing within its own borders. This will require investment in research and development through the creation of innovation centres and collaboration between local universities and industries. Senegal should build alliances with other resource-rich African countries that have the same goals of building domestic processing capacity, in order to share their experience and know-how and to obtain a stronger collective negotiating position.

Local authorities should:

• Boost tourism. They could invest in place branding and integrate the tourism economy into the craft sector and local educational programmes.

Local NGOs, in collaboration with the international community, should put pressure on multinational companies to:

• Preserve environmental sustainability. They could call for compensation for ecological damage, based on the polluter-pays formula.
• Strengthen transparency. Although Senegal’s mining code is in line with the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), for example by mandating mining companies to disclose their payments External link, opens in new window. to the state, support for increased transparency is still much needed. Risk prevention and management plans must be published and made known to all stakeholders.