Foreign Affairs committee  I can hear you perfectly well. Good day to you.

Foreign Affairs committee  It is 9:30 in the evening.

Foreign Affairs committee  You're welcome.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I want to thank you for inviting me. Let me be a bit precise about what my background is. I'm a lecturer in the anthropology department of Leiden University in the Netherlands, and over the last 20 years my research has mainly focused on west Africa and on

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay. I'm sorry.

Foreign Affairs committee  Fine, all right. I'm not going to repeat. I'm going to carry on. Do you think I should I recapitulate briefly?

Foreign Affairs committee  The mining sectors of countries like Mali and Burkina Faso have undergone substantial changes over the last 20 years. Burkina Faso has made a shift from dominant state intervention to a sector giving ample room to private companies. In this process of liberalization, tasks of t

Foreign Affairs committee  Oh, I'm sorry.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm going to slow down a bit. The broadening of involvement in development initiatives is risky. This situation of partnership creates a disconnection from the responsibilities directly linked to the mining operation, responsibilities that are now in Chinese hands. This broadeni

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I do have translation.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, I agree with the fact that we should not equate development with simple projects. We should, indeed, look at development as a part of a wider social process. That's also something that Professor Bebbington emphasized very strongly in his comments and statements to the commi

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's not so much in terms of sequencing as it is in levels, I think. I would absolutely, if mining is to contribute to development, insist upon my second point: first of all, mitigation. Before we start talking about development, we have to ensure that companies are organized in

Foreign Affairs committee  Of course. Yes.