Africa Up Close

Local content requirements (LCRs) require companies to fulfill a minimum threshold that incorporates either local labor or locally sourced goods and/or services. Many countries in Africa have turned to LCRs to improve the participation of local contractors, suppliers, and domestic workers in high-tech and large-scale infrastructure projects as well as to provide quantitative targets for domestically manufactured goods or services in the tendering process.

Countries like Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, have used LCRs to leapfrog technological barriers in the extractive sector, compelling foreign oil companies to not only transfer expatriate job positions to locals, but also create linkages with local small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the value chain.

The ban on single-use plastic bags in Kenya was prefaced by vigorous sensitization campaigns undertaken by various international bodies like UNEP’s Environment’s Global Plastics Platform. These sensitization efforts highlight the lasting harmful effects of plastic pollution, and have accelerated global momentum toward reducing plastic pollution. For example, various UN member states, including Kenya and Rwanda, have made ambitious efforts toward banning single-use plastic bags.