We were funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through their Partnerships for Development (P4D) programme. This programme facilitated and supported peer-to-peer development partnerships between UK public sector institutions and those in developing countries. We typically worked with organisations that are involved in acquiring, interpreting, managing and disseminating geological data, such as other geological surveys.
Working with partners from the National Minerals Agency in Sierra Leone. BGS © UKRI.
Maarten Krabbendam (BGS) leading the discussion on the formation of northern Tajikistan with geologists from the Main Department of Geology (MDG) Tajikistan. BGS © UKRI.
The main aim of our work was to support our partner countries in developing sustainable extractives sectors. Many developing countries are rich in natural resources and a well-managed extractives sector can make a huge contribution towards economic growth and achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Easy access to robust, well-managed geological data provides the fundamental basis for a strong extractives sector and can help partner countries to manage many other major challenges, such as the impact of natural hazards.
Partnerships
Under P4D, we developed strong partnerships in Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Ghana.
In Sierra Leone, we work with the National Minerals Agency (NMA) and the Petroleum Directorate. Our partnership covers development of geological skills at both agencies, including fieldwork, data management systems, and improving the laboratories at the NMA.
In response to the Kenyan Government recognising the need to improve access by investors to the geoscience data and information holdings of the ministry through its Directorate of Geological Surveys (DGS), we provided technical assistance to the Kenyan Ministry of Petroleum and Mining as it establishes its National Geodata Centre (GDC). This enhanced the ability of the DGS to conduct research to determine Kenya’s mineral potential and to safeguard the country’s geoscientific data into the future.
We worked with the State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use (SCIESU) to assist in making the Kyrgyz Republic’s extractive and geohazard data more available, both internally and externally.
Our partnership covered the development of skills in GIS, database design and development, data management and data delivery, with our ultimate goal being the provision of data on a central server which can be accessed and delivered through a GeoScience Data Index (a GIS system).
Our partnership in Tajikistan, with the Main Department of Geology, covered similar themes.
In Ghana, we developed a partnership with the Ghana Geological Survey Authority, supporting them through capacity building around geological data management, geological skills and laboratories.
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