As our Project Access program draws a close, it’s important to reflect on the milestones achieved. From technical mine inspections led by our skilled team of Engineers to equipment installation assessments, our team,  alongside our partners at Solidaridad East and Central Africa, was on the ground on the ground and underground in Migori during the week of October 21, 2024, reviewing mine performance through our groundbreaking mine continuous improvement tool: the Investment Partnership Plan (IPP). This innovative approach ensures the uptake of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices among artisanal miners, moving beyond the typical capacity-building through training, which often falls short of delivering lasting, tangible results.

While miners gain knowledge through training and capacity-building sessions, the impact on their day-to-day operations is often minimal without the necessary infrastructure or investment to drive real change. Our experience has shown that an investment-led approach to the professionalisation of the sector, supported through mutually agreed-upon time-bound mine improvements, unlocks far greater benefits for artisanal and small-scale gold miners.

The Investment Partnership Plan is designed to target and improve specific Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) mine criteria based on The Impact Facility’s Impact Escalator, a comprehensive ESG framework ranging from requirements on formalisation and permits to workers’ rights, environmental management, and good business conduct. The areas for improvement are agreed upon between the miner and our team after they receive mining equipment through the TIF’s lease-to-purchase financing model. Over six months, progress against these criteria is reviewed, evidence collected, and new areas for improvement are selected for the subsequent six months. The plan focuses on manageable, measurable, and evidence-based improvements, especially those directly resulting from the investment. This not only tracks mine progress but also opens the door for miners to qualify for higher amounts for additional investments.

An investment-led approach is critical to boosting productivity and incentivising voluntary ESG improvements at the mine site. As miners experience immediate operational gains, they naturally become more inclined to improve health and safety standards, become more environmentally conscious, and strengthen their governance structures. In this way, ESG improvements become a natural extension of their success. This model demonstrates that smart investments can create a ripple effect of positive change across multiple aspects of a mining operation, proving more effective than relying solely on knowledge transfer.