The issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR), as it relates
to the mining sector, has emerged in a particular historical
context. Several decades of reform that liberalized regulatory
frameworks and mining codes in mineral-rich countries of
Africa in order to encourage investment has contributed to
redefining the role and functions of mineral-rich states, as well
as contributed to the shift of what were formerly considered
state functions to private actors – often large transnational
mining companies. In the context of the weakened institutional
and political capacities of states – and consequently of their
weakened capacity to pursue developmental objectives, to
enforce regulations in areas of key importance to communities,
and to meet national economic objectives, along with the
trend of transferring public responsibilities to private actors –
issues of legitimacy have emerged about the operations of
mining companies themselves.