Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

07 October 2026

Post No. 477

The Week’s Contents

• History Month with Making Memorable Positive Difference Project – In Focus: History of Africa’s Critical Minerals

• Activity/Task 10 of the Alternatives (‘A’) Year and Project: Share the History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It

• Goal of the Month: Reduction of Poverty as a Lack of Historical Alternatives

… And much more!

Key Messages

• History Month with Making Memorable Positive Difference Project – In Focus: History of Africa’s Critical Minerals

This year’s Making Memorable Positive Difference (MM+D), which is the 18th Edition, will be about the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals.

Perhaps, to better introduce this 18th edition of MM+D, let us define critical minerals and to look at them in the context of minerals history in Africa.

• • What Are Critical Minerals?

According to the World Resources Institute (1),

“Critical minerals are those that are essential to countries’ economies or development. They are generally in high demand and prone to supply chain disruptions, although countries differ on which minerals they define as ‘critical’ depending on their level of access, what the minerals are used for, their export value and national supply risks”.

The World Resources Institute also notes that

“Most countries’ critical mineral lists include copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. These are used widely in clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, solar panels, EV batteries and motors, as well as in energy transmission infrastructure like power lines. Additional minerals important for the energy transition include aluminum, manganese, silicon and silver, among others”.

This definition will help in studying and learning about the history of critical minerals in Africa.

• • The History of Africa’s Critical Minerals

Historically speaking, African societies mined, smelted, and traded metals like gold, copper, and iron for local use and international commerce before colonial powers turned the continent into a raw extraction zone.

This pre-colonial history of critical minerals was manifest in three areas but not limited to them: trading, craftsmanship, and economic leverage.

In terms of local processing or craftsmanship, ancient kingdoms did not just dip up raw ore; local artisans smelted and shaped metals into tools, currency, and fine art.

Concerning the global trade networks, West and Southern African empires traded gold and cooper across the Saharan, the Arab Peninsula, and the Indian Ocean centuries before European colonization.

Regarding the economic leverage, rulers in empires like Mali controlled trade routes and used their mineral wealth to build powerful, stable economies and sponsor major cultural events such as royal pilgrimages.

As part of MM+D 2026, we will remember this history of critical minerals in Africa and honor miners through the following items:

σ Learning the chronological timeline of critical minerals in Africa

σ Recognizing the generation of workers and the technological heritage tied to extracting Africa’s resources

σ Reclaiming geological patrimony

σ Preserving geological legacy

σ Retrieving historical narratives

σ Africa’s geological gifts to the world, to the green transition

Etc.

In particular, we shall reminisce key figures who represent a historical legacy of Africa’s history of critical minerals. We will also look back the relationship between Africa’s history of critical minerals and poverty reduction, although this relationship is disputable.

This year, MM+D 2026 also will review key 2026 Critical Minerals Events like African Critical Minerals Summit 2026 (2), held between 25 and 26 August in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Africa Critical Minerals Conference 2026 (3) convened in Lusaka, Zambia, between 15-16 September 2026. We shall explore the findings of these events and how they can be fitted into the focus of our MM+D 2026 – the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals.

MM+D 2026 will therefore provide opportunity to relearn about Africa’s History of Critical Minerals. In short, we shall undertake the following two tasks:

a) Study the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals

b) Critically assess the historical contribution of Africa’s Critical Minerals in reducing poverty as well as the links of these minerals with Africa’s culture, patrimony and heritage.

For further information on this acknowledgement about the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals, please read under the Main Development section of this post.

• Activity/Task 10 of the Alternatives (‘A’) Year and Project: Share the History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It

The Sharing of History of Alternatives will be approached here depending on whether we are dealing with an activity or a task.

• • Activity of Sharing the History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It

To understand this Activity, it is better to define it and give its elements.

• • • What is the Activity of Sharing the History of Alternatives?

Literature on history sharing suggests that the activity of documenting, prescribing and sharing the history of developmental alternatives and their connection to poverty reduction is primarily referred to as Participatory Action Research, Development Communication, or Knowledge Mobilisation within Social Sciences and international development.

When specifically focused on letting marginalized communities share their own alternative pathways and history of escaping poverty, it is heavily associated with methods like Qualitative Life Histories or the “Voices of the Poor” methodology. There are dimensions about this Activity.

• • • Core Dimensions of this Activity

They include

σ Oral Histories and Qualitative Life Histories: Exploring why and how certain alternative approaches succeeded or failed in reducing poverty over generations

σ Handing over the Tick (Participatory Approaches): The activity focuses on letting communities document their own history of alternative ecosystems

σ Popular Mobilization and Campaign Advocacy (e.g., CENFACS’ World Anti-poverty System as a form of campaign to share the narrative of alternatives to global institutions of Bretton Woods to deal with poverty).

These dimensions can be used by those who would like to their History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It.

• • Task of Sharing the History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It

The Task of Sharing the History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It is a foundational element of progressive international development and heterodox economics. It serves as a direct counter narrative to market fundamentalism (neoliberalism) by demonstrating that global inequal and destitution are man-made political choices rather than natural economic laws.

The task involves specific components, objectives, and historical frameworks. It includes

σ Demystifying the ‘free-market only’ narrative

σ Documenting non-Western and heterodox success stories (e.g., the East Asian and Chinese Models, the Nordic Model) targeted social innovations

σ Chronicling Grassroots and Social Formations (like the Cooperative Movements, the Social and Solidarity Economy)

σ Centering the Voices of the Poor (Methodologically this task influenced by Robert Chambers aims to dismantle elite-driven, purely quantitative metrics of poverty).

To sum up on both Activity and Task of Sharing the History of Alternatives and Poverty Reduction Linked to It, the activity is the strategic vehicle for sharing alternatives and poverty reduction, while the tasks are the daily action items required to build that vehicle. Their difference lies in the scale, purpose, and execution. The activity is broad and goal-oriented while the task is a specified actionable step required to complete a portion of an activity.

The above is our Activity/Task 10 of the Alternatives (A) Year/Project.

Those who would like to undertake this Activity/Task can go ahead. For those who need some help before embarking on it, they can speak to CENFACS.

For any other queries and enquiries about the ‘A’ project and this year’s dedication, please contact CENFACS as well.

• Goal of the Month: Reduction of Poverty as a Lack of Historical Alternatives

To deal with this type of poverty, it is better to explain it, provide its mechanisms and the ways to reduce it.

• • Understanding Poverty as a Lack of Historical Alternatives

When poverty is described as being linked to a lack of historical alternatives, it refers to a core argument in post-development theory and critical sociology: poverty is not merely a natural or default state of human existence, but a condition systematically constructed through the elimination of alternative ways of living.

Rather than viewing the poor as populations that simply have not caught up yet to modern wealth, the perspective argues that their traditional, self-sufficient means of survival were intentionally dismantled by historical processes.

This concept can be broken down into several mechanisms.

• • Key Mechanisms

They include

σ The Enclosure of Self-sufficiency

When colonial powers or corporate entities enclosed lands, monetized property, and forced populations into cash economies; they stripped people of their ability to feed, clothe and house themselves independently. By eliminating the alternative of self-sufficiency, populations were forced into wage labour – often at exploitative rates – creating systemic poverty where it did not previously exist in that form.

σ Destruction of Local Economies

By forcing local populations to strictly rely on the colonizing nature’s manufacturing and trade networks, they eliminate viable domestic economic alternatives, locking people and communities into cycles of generational poverty.

σ The Institutionalization of Development

By defining wealth strictly through GDP, income metrics and consumerism, alternative society structures (such as localized, sustainable, or non-monetary communities0 were systematically pathologized as underdeveloped or poor, justifying interventions that further dismantled them.

σ Monopolization of Power Resources

In modern democracies, a lack of historical alternatives manifests as systemic scarcity. When institutions, zoning laws, and economic frameworks are historically structured around a rigid, top-down model, it creates a binary ‘winner-loser’ economic dynamic. Marginalized groups are left with no alternative pathways for capital accumulation, education, or social mobility because the institutional frameworks themselves penalize alternative approaches to community wealth building.

Knowing these mechanisms is one thing. Reducing poverty as a lack of historical alternatives is what we are focusing on.

• • Reduction of Poverty as a Lack of Historical Alternatives

To reduce poverty linked to the lack of historical alternatives requires applying the strategies given below.

σ Disruption of path dependency through institution reform

This involves land titling and asset redistribution, and decentralizing power.

σ Implementing universal safety nets and direct cash transfers

This includes direct unconditional cash transfers, universal basic services (like healthcare, clean water, transportation, etc.)

σ Building post-colonial and post-industrial economic alternatives

This covers nurturing local industries, regenerative and high-tech agriculture.

σ Overhaul education to foster critical agency

This includes critical inquiry and technical literacy.

σ Decolonizing development models

It is about dismantling the lingering influence of colonial mindsets and structures within the field of international development, as explained by ‘sustainability-directory.com’ (4).

These strategies have to be relativized as each community and place where there is a lack of historical alternatives can be particular in their kind.

So, during this October 2026 we are going to work on the Reduction of Poverty as a Lack of Historical Alternatives. This is our Goal for the Month of October 2026.

• • • Implications for Selecting the Goal for the Month

After selecting the goal for the month, we focus our efforts and mind set on the selected goal by making sure that in our real life we apply it. We also expect our supporters to go for the goal of the month by working on the same goal and by supporting those who may be suffering from the type of poverty linked to the goal for the month we are talking about during the given month (e.g., October 2026).

For further details on the goal of the month, its selection procedure including its support and how one can go for it, please contact CENFACS.

Extra Messages

• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign with Concentration on Critically Endangered Mammalian Species

• Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems as the Next Step of the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living through Long-term Actions

• ‘Economic Truth to Fresh Start’ Initiative – In Focus from 07/10/2026: Economic Truth Work 3 and Fresh Start Activity 3

• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign with Concentration on Critically Endangered Mammalian Species

This year, “A la une” – which takes Save Fauna, Flora and Funga advocacy to the next level of CENFACS’ environmental communications and awareness raising – will be concentrated on Critically Endangered Mammalian Species. We shall focus on saving endangered mammalian species or large mammals through our new initiative called ‘NYIAMAMINENE’. What do we mean by critically endangered?

• • Meaning of Critically Endangered

Endangered is defined from the Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation written by Chris Park (5) as

“A species that is in danger of *extinction if existing pressures on it (such as over-harvesting or habitat change) continue, and which is therefore likely to disappear if it is not offered adequate protection” (p. 147)

The same dictionary states that

“Critically endangered is a species which, according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future” (p. 105)

As said above, we shall focus on saving critically endangered mammalian species through our new initiative called ‘NYIAMAMINENE’.

• • ‘NYIAMAMINENE’ (Nurturing Yearning Into Action Maintaining All Mammals In Natural Environment Not Exploited) as a Focus of Our ‘A la une’ Campaign

• • • What Is NYIAMAMINENE?

NYIAMAMINENE – which stands for Nurturing Yearning Into Action Maintaining All Mammals In Natural Environment Not Exploited – is an advocacy for the critically endangered large species in Africa.

Far from being a philosophy of compassionate conservation and radical rewilding, NYIAMAMINENE addresses the moral imperative to transform human empathy for wildlife into systemic protection, ensuring all mammalian species can live autonomously in their natural habitats without human exploitation.

NYIAMAMINENE can be broken into three direct conceptual frameworks, which are 1) Nurturing Yearning into Action 2) Maintaining All Mammals in Natural Environment 3) Not Exploited.

1) Nurturing Yearning into Action

This is the psychological and activist component. It argues that simply having passive yearning – a desire or emotional empathy for animal welfare – is not enough. That internal feeling must be systematically nurtured into tangible legal and physical actions. This includes policy changes, anti-poaching initiatives, habitat restoration, and the dismantling of commercial wildlife trades.

2) Maintaining All Mammals in Natural Environment

This is ecological and conservation component, heavily tied to rewilding. Scientists have found that reintroducing and protecting large mammalian assemblages (such as apex predators and large herbivores) is the most effective way to restore degraded ecosystems. It emphasizes that mammals should not live in artificial, captive, or fragmented spaces, but rather in functioning, natural environments where they can display their innate, evolutionary behaviours.

3) Not Exploited

This represents the Animal Rights and Abolitionist framework. It shifts the goalpost away from traditional ‘animal welfare’ (which merely seeks to make human exploitation, like zoos, circuses, or farming, less cruel) and moves towards true animal autonomy. It asserts that mammals possess agency, dignity, and a right to live entirely for themselves, free from being treated as human commodities.

So, NYIAMAMINENE is a new advocacy project designed by CENFACS to help protect critically endangered large species and keep them up in their natural habitat in Africa. This advocacy is justified by the statistical evidence on threats that large mammals face in Africa.

According to ‘saeon.ac.za’ (6),

“Recent wildlife data reveals a complex and critical landscape for Africa’s critically endangered large mammals. While intensive conservation initiatives have led to stabilization or marginal recovery for certain populations, a landmark 2026 study published in Nature highlights that Sub-Saharan Africa has lost 24% of its total biodiversity since pre-industrial times, with large mammals suffering the greatest losses, dropping more than 75% in historical abundance”.

There are ongoing efforts to prevent further extinctions. As part of these efforts, we are setting up the ‘NYIAMAMINENE’ project, which will add value to these efforts. ‘NYIAMAMINENE’ project, which has already kicked off, will helps advocate for a safe life for large mammalian species.

• • • What is going to happen in the coming weeks

In the coming weeks, we are embarking on a campaign to help save critically threatened mammalians by extinction in Africa. We shall focus on 5 key critically endangered mammalian species (i.e., Black Rhinoceros, African Forest Elephant, Eastern Gorilla, Ethiopian Wolf, and Addax Antelope) through this new initiative – the ‘NYIAMAMINENE’ project. It is a campaign to help save these mammalian species and similar species threated by extinction.

This Autumn campaign to help save mammals will be featured by a number of notes to be written to make up the theme of the campaign. There will five notes which will be related to five of the above-mentioned mammals.

They are endangered species. The ‘NYIAMAMINENE’ project will help to advocate for a safe life for these mammals.

To support “A la une” campaign and “NYIAMAMINENE” project, please contact CENFACS.

• Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems as the Next Step of the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living through Long-term Actions

As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, “Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems” (A2SWBE&SE) marks a programmatic shift from short-term emergency relief (like temporary food aid or utility subsidies) towards long-term structural interventions designed to pull households out of systemic poverty, from temporary relief (like emergency cash drops) towards structural economic resilience.

The primary goal of this framework is to break the cycle of working poverty by permanently lifting households above the cost-of-living baseline. Rather than just helping people survive inflation or high prices, it reorganizes the local economy so that lower-income individuals can capture, retain, and grow financial value.

The core components of this strategic “next step” of our campaign focus on three key pillars: Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems (SWBE&SE). Let us briefly explain them.

• • Explaining Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems

• • • Sustainable Wealth Building (SWB)

Rather than relying solely on wealth redistribution or state benefits, this component leans into Community Wealth Building (CWB) models. The goal is to keep financial resources flowing within the local community by supporting independent businesses, cooperatives, and social enterprises. This creates localized economic resilience capable of withstanding macroeconomic shocks, ensuring that financial gains are more equitably shared among low-income households.

SWB has goals, target audience and indicators/metrics to measure performance.

• • • • Goals, Target Audience and Performance Measurement of SWB

• • • • • The Goals of SWB

They are to facilitate asset accumulation so families can withstand financial shocks.

• • • • • The Target Demographic relating to Aid to SWB

This consists of in-work poverty households, low-income asset-poor families, and underrepresented local entrepreneurs.

• • • • • SWB Performance Measurement or Metrics

Traditional metrics like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or individual income measure economic flows, but they do not account for structural cost-of-living drains. To evaluate true wealth sustainability, anti-poverty campaigns track the preservation of stocks (capital) rather than just temporary liquidity.

The metrics to be used for SWB Performance Measurement will be

σ The Poverty Premium Reductio Rate

σ Asset-to-Debt Ratio/Financial Resilience

σ Net Disposable Income After Housing and Childcare.

One can also employ SWB Metrics that track a household’s progression from basic survival to building a financial cushion against future inflation or shocks. These metrics are

σ Net Disposable Income After Inescapable Costs

σ Liquid Asset Buffer

σ Community Wealth Reinvestment Rate

σ Asset Ownership and Tenure Security.

• • • Employability

Recognizing that secure, well-paid work is one of the most effective paths out of poverty, the Employability aspect of A2SWBE&SE as a project heavily emphasizes upskilling and career advancement paths. It focuses on

σ Bridging skill gaps to individuals competitive in emerging greener or digital economic sectors

σ Providing tailored training and adult education resources to improve labour market entry and career progression

σ Moving workers away from insecure, zero-hour or low-productivity employment into jobs that provide stable, livable wages.

Like SWB, Employability has goals, target audience and indicators/metrics to measure performance.

• • • • Goals, Target Audience and Performance Measurement of Employability

• • • • • The Goals of Employability

The focus here is on quality, fair-paying, and future-proof career paths.

• • • • • The Target Demographic relating to Aid to Employability

It is made of the underemployed, long-term unemployed, older workers facing age deprivation, and youth entering unstable labour markets.

• • • • • Employability Performance Indicators and Metrics

a) Employability Performance Indicators

High costs of living degrade human capital, if workers cannot afford transport, housing, or childcare, they cannot maintain employment. Performance here is measured by upward mobility and structural stability, not just baseline employment rates.

These metrics are

σ Real-wage Progression over Inflation

σ Clear Skills Pathways Utlization

σ Labour Force Retention vs. Living Cost Shock.

b) Employability Metrics

Employability focuses on labour market resilience, upward mobility, and decent work that keeps pace with changes in the cost of living.

These employability metrics include

σ Real Wage-to-Inflation Variance

σ Underemployment and Informality Rates

σ The NEET Rate: The percentage of young people (ages 16-24) not in education, employment, or training

σ Upskilling and Transition Success.

• • • Support Ecosystems

This pillar represents a holistic, interconnected safety net. Instead of isolated aid programmes, a “support ecosystems” integrates local government services, community organizations, mental health professionals, financial literacy coaches, and employers. This ensures that when a vulnerable resident faces a barrier – be it digital exclusion, problem debt, or mental trauma – there is a coordinated network ready to assist, making the transition to permanent economic independence sustainable.

Like for SWB and Employability, Support Ecosystems have also goals, target audience and indicators/metrics to measure performance.

• • • • Goals, Target Audience and Performance Measurement of Support Ecosystems

• • • • • The Goals of Support Ecosystems

The ecosystem approach aims to embed social and financial safety nets directly into the communities.

• • • • • The Target Demographic relating to Aid to Support Ecosystems

It includes grassroots community organizations, local social enterprises, mutual aid networks, and anchor institutions (like local councils, NHS boards, and universities).

• • • • • Support Ecosystem Health Indicators and Metrics

a) Support Ecosystem Health Indicators

A healthy ecosystem protects a household’s baseline so that wealth building and employment are possible. Performance is measured through the lens of preventative and structural safety nets.

These indicators include

σ The Social Tariff and Subsidy Coverage

σ Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) Inflow vs. Outflow

σ Ecosystem Service “Value Return”.

b) Support Ecosystem Metrics

An effective ecosystem removes structural hurdles so individuals can retain the wealth they build and the ways the earn.

These metrics are

σ Essential Service Affordability Ratio

σ Social Protection FloorCoverage

σ Childcare Affordability and Capacity

σ Debt-to-Income and Arrears Volatility.

After explaining SWBE&SE, it is worth indication how aid to it.

• • Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems” (A2SWBE&SE)

A2SWBE&SE as initiative of the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living is framed as strategic next step to transition individuals from short-term financial survival to long-term economic autonomy, specifically counteracting the poverty triggered by the global cost-of-living crisis. It has a unified messaging and interconnected aspects.

• • • The Unified Messaging of “Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems” (A2SWBE&SE)

The unified messaging of A2SWBE&SE is that poverty alleviation requires a structural shift from temporary relief to long-term economic resilience.

Instead of just helping people survive the immediate crisis of high living costs, this framework combines three interconnected pillars to lift individuals out of poverty permanently.

The messaging unifies these three concepts into a single cohesive strategy:

σ Employability is the entry point

σ Support Ecosystems are the safety net

σ Sustainable Wealth Building is the ultimate goal.

Indeed, by providing steady income (employability) with strong community safety nets (ecosystems), individuals can move past paycheck-to- paycheck living to save, invest, and build generational wealth.

Briefly speaking, key message pillars are from relief to resilience, holistic empowerment, and systemic combat against the cost-of-living crisis.

• • • The Interconnected Aspects of “Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems” (A2SWBE&SE)

The approach addresses structural economic vulnerabilities through four key, interconnected aspects, which are:

σ Fair Employment and Just Labour Markets (Employability)

σ Inclusive Ownership and Economic Diversification (Sustainable Wealth Building)

σ Progressive Procurement (Recirculating Wealth)

σ Coordinated Financial and Social Infrastructure (Support Ecosystems).

The first aspect starts from week beginning Monday 05/10/2026.

• • • In Focus from Week Beginning Monday 05/10/2026: Fair Employment and Just Labour Markets

Fair Employment and Just Labour Markets is part of Aid to Employability. To better understand this aspect of our campaign, it makes sense to explain it and spell out how we can work with the community.

• • • • Explaining Fair Employment and Just Labour Markets (FE&JLM)

In the context of CENFACS’ Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living through Long-term Actions, FE&JLM mean transforming work from a source of financial stress into a reliable pathway out of poverty. When inflation and basic necessities (like housing, energy, and food) outpace wages, simply ‘having a job‘ is no longer enough to survive.

In terms of economic justice advocacy, it makes sense to break down the two concepts (i.e., Fair Employment and Just Labour Markets).

• • • • • Fair Employment: Securing Worker Wellbeing

Fair employment focuses on the immediate terms, conditions, and compensation of the individual worker. In a high cost-of-living crisis, campaigns define fair employment through several pillars like these ones below:

σ A true living wage (that reflects the actual, localised cost of basic goods and housing)

σ Income predictability (i.e., guaranteeing working hours and stable earnings to workers)

σ Comprehensive benefits (that is, providing robust paid sick leave, parental leave, and affordable employer-subsidized healthcare or childcare).

• • • • • Just Labour Markets: Fixing the Systemic Imbalance

While fair labour market refers to the broader economic system. It ensures that the structural rules of the economy do not inherently disadvantage workers in favour of corporate profits. In anti-poverty campaigns (like CENFACS’ Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living), this includes

σ Strong collective bargaining

σ Balanced power dynamics

σ Pay transparency and equity

σ Accessible career pathways.

In short, establishing FE&JLM forces the economic system to properly pay workers upfront.

• • • • Working with the Community on FE&JLM Matters

As part of this campaign, we can work with our community and sister community members on matter relating to FE&JLM. Where our capacity is limited, we can signpost those who need some help about FE&JLM to organisations and institutions that can assist them.

Those who would like to enquire about Fair Employment and Just Labour Markets as it has been presented above, they can contact CENFACS.

Those who want further details about “Aid to Sustainable Wealth Building, Employability and Support Ecosystems” and CENFACS’ Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living as well as to campaign with us, they should not hesitate to communicate with CENFACS.

• ‘Economic Truth to Fresh Start’ Initiative – In Focus from 07/10/2026: Economic Truth Work 3 and Fresh Start Activity 3

From 07/10/2026 to 13/10/2026, we will be dealing with these two areas our “Economic Truth to Fresh Start” Initiative:

a) Economic Truth Work 3 (ETW3) which is on Share Power in Advocacy and Campaigning

b) and Fresh Start Activity 3 (FSA3) which is about Mutual Aid and Asset-sharing Networks.

Let us look summarize them.

• • Economic Truth Work 3: Share Power in Advocacy and Campaigning

Practice suggests that sharing power with members and beneficiaries in an initiative like “Economic Truth to Fresh Start” requires moving away from traditional, top-down “charity” dynamics. Because an initiative focusing on “economic truths” heavily involves exposing systemic inequality, financial hardships, and localized socioeconomic realities, the strategy must prioritize lived experience as expertise.

As a charity, CENFACS can strategically and structurally share its power in advocacy and campaigning.

• • • Working with the Community on Sharing Power in Advocacy and Campaigning

CENFACS can share it across four progressive stages as given below.

a) Agenda Setting and Co-design (Shifting Executive Power)

It is about handing over the steering wheel to those navigating the system to know economic truths. This involves

σ Forming a co-led Steering Committee

σ Conducting a Participatory Action Research.

b) Strategic Campaigning (Shifting Tactical Power)

Power sharing means allowing beneficiaries to decide how the story is told and where resources are spent. This includes

σ Lived-experience Campaign Curators

σ Budgetary co-delegation.

c) Direct Advocacy and Platforming (Shifting Diplomatic Power)

It is about transitioning from being a ‘voice for the voiceless’ to a platform builder and infrastructure provider. This encompasses

σ Peer-led Lobbying

σ The ‘Community Builder’ Model.

d) Governance, Accountability, and Safeguarding (Sustaining the Shift)

Sharing power carries systemic risks, including burnout and exposure to public pushback. This implies building on architecture of protection. This covers

σ Implementing Strong Feedback Loops

σ Institutionalization of Trauma-Informed Duty of Care.

In short, this sharing power depends on what our members and beneficiaries can or cannot do as well as what they want and do not want. CENFACS Community Database of Skills for members and users can provide this information.

• • Fresh Start Activity 3: Mutual Aid and Asset-sharing Networks

Perhaps the best way to start this Activity 3 is to explain mutual aid and asset-sharing networks.

• • • Explaining Mutual Aid and Asset-sharing Networks

Let us start with mutual aid. According to ‘globalgiving.org’ (7),

“Mutual aid is about cooperating to serve community members. Mutual aid creates networks of care and generosity to meet the immediate needs of our neighbours. It also addresses the root causes of challenges we face and demands transformation change”.

As to asset-sharing networks, the definition provided by ‘sustainability-diretory.com’ (8) for equipment sharing networks will be used here. This definition is

“Equipment sharing networks comprise organized systems that enable multiple users or entities to access and utilize a common pool of physical assets. In the context of sustainability, these networks optimize resource utilization, reducing the need for individual ownership and minimizing the overall production of new items”.

These two definitions enable to work with our members and beneficiaries.

• • • Working with the Community on Mutual Aid and Asset-sharing Networks

Depending on scenarios and what our members and beneficiaries want, we can structure the collaboration on Mutual Aid and Asset-sharing Networks around the following:

σ Cooperating with them to serve their survival needs

σ Using the CENFACS Community, which is our network of care and generosity, helps them meet their immediate needs

σ Organize our systems of poverty reduction to enable multiple users or entities to access and utilize a common pool of physical assets

σ Optimize resource utilization

σ Reduce the need for individual ownership if there is no need within our community for such ownership

σ Minimize the overall production of poverty reduction items, projects, services, etc.

The above will involve unpacking economic truths, leadership pipelines, establishing democratic decision-making process, implementing workable structures, asset mapping, pooling resources and having solidarity funds, etc.

However, we shall make sure that our legal and financial compliance requirements as a charity do not crush with the informal, trust-based of any networks.

Those who will be interested in Economic Truth Work 3 (Sharing Power in Advocacy and Campaigning) and Fresh Start Activity 3 (Mutual Aid and Asset-sharing Networks), they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

Those who have any enquiries and/or queries about “Economic Truth to Fresh Start” Initiative, they can as well communicate with CENFACS.

Message in French (Message en français)

• Objectif de la Saison d’Automne : La Réduction de la Pauvreté Structurelle

Notre objectif pour cet automne est de contribuer à réduire la pauvreté structurelle. Pour bien comprendre cet objectif, il convient d’expliquer ce qu’est la pauvreté structurelle, les moyens d’y remédier ainsi que ses implications.

• • Comprendre la pauvreté structurelle

Selon « studocu.com » (9),

« La pauvreté structurelle désigne une forme de pauvreté ancrée dans les systèmes économiques et sociaux d’une société. Elle se caractérise par des inégalités persistantes et généralisées, un accès limité aux ressources et des obstacles à la mobilité sociale. »

En d’autres termes, il s’agit d’une forme de précarité persistante, inhérente aux systèmes économiques, sociaux et politiques d’une société, et non le fruit de choix ou d’échecs individuels. On parle également de pauvreté technocratique, c’est-à-dire une pauvreté strictement liée à des données macroéconomiques qui ignorent les réalités humaines ou analysée à travers le prisme de la critique des indicateurs économiques néolibéraux.

Lorsque les indicateurs macroéconomiques standards (comme le PIB ou le taux d’emploi moyen) déclarent l’économie florissante alors que de larges pans de la population n’ont toujours pas accès aux produits de première nécessité, cela révèle un décalage entre les statistiques abstraites et les besoins humains. Pourtant, la pauvreté structurelle peut être réduite, voire éradiquée. Tel est notre objectif pour cet automne.

• • Stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté structurelle

Il est possible de réduire la pauvreté structurelle en passant d’une aide d’urgence à court terme à une intervention systémique à long terme qui cible les obstacles économiques fondamentaux auxquels sont confrontées les familles marginalisées. Lorsque les réalités économiques (comme l’inflation, la stagnation des salaires et les biais systémiques) excluent certains ménages, il est possible de jouer un rôle de catalyseur pour créer du patrimoine, influencer les politiques publiques et fournir des ressources adaptées. Cela contribuera à réduire, voire à éliminer, les défaillances systémiques (telles que les déséquilibres du marché du travail, les discriminations institutionnelles et l’inégalité des ressources) qui maintiennent des personnes dans la pauvreté, indépendamment de leurs choix personnels.

Réduire la pauvreté structurelle revient donc à s’attaquer aux facteurs économiques systémiques, aux pressions sur le logement et aux barrières sociales qui engendrent des difficultés durables. Puisque la pauvreté structurelle découle de barrières systémiques au sein de l’économie plutôt que de choix individuels, les sociétés doivent mettre en œuvre des réformes structurelles ciblées pour corriger ces profonds déséquilibres économiques qui affectent les ménages et les familles.

• • Implications pour le choix de l’objectif de la saison d’automne

Une fois l’objectif de la saison est choisi, nous concentrons nos efforts et notre état d’esprit sur celui-ci en veillant à le mettre en pratique dans notre vie quotidienne. Nous attendons également de nos soutiens qu’ils œuvrent pour atteindre cet objectif, en travaillant dans ce sens et en venant en aide aux personnes touchées par la forme de pauvreté associée à l’objectif de la saison concernée (par exemple, l’automne 2026).

Pour plus de détails sur l’objectif de la saison, la procédure de sa sélection, les modalités de soutien et la manière de s’y investir, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.

Main Development

• History Month with Making Memorable Positive Difference Project – In Focus: History of Africa’s Critical Minerals

The following items make up the contents of this year’s focus of Making Memorable Positive Difference Project:

∝ What IsMaking Memorable Positive Difference Project (MM+D)?

∝ What IsThis Year’s MM+D?

∝ MM+D Days

∝ MM+D Timeline

Let us look at each of these contents.

• • What Is MM+D?

MM+D is

∝ a two-day event of Awareness, Thought and Recognition set up by CENFACS in 2009 to celebrate the Black History Month in our own way and feeling while preserving the tradition linked to this remembrance and standing on the shoulders of similar celebrations

∝ a history project of collective memory about works carried out, heritage and legacies left by Africans

∝ all about collectively telling, acknowledging, studying and learning that everyday Africans wherever they are (in Africa) or elsewhere (in the UK-Croydon and the world) are striving to improve the quality of their lives and of others. Through their historically valuable works, they are making memorable positive difference and the world a better place for everybody, including the generations to come.

∝ a celebration of African Abilities, Talents, Skills, Techniques, Technologies, Gifts and Legacies to Africa and the world.

• • What Is This Year’s MM+D?

This year’s dedicated two days (27 and 28 October 2026) are days of historical study, analysis, skill recognition and celebration of the legacies left by Africans regarding Critical Minerals in Africa.

The History of Critical Minerals in Africa spans before the colonial period to colonial-era extraction networks to modern geopolitical competition over green-energy and technology supply chains. Basically, the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals is made of different episodes which include Pre-colonial trading and craftsmanship, Colonial exploitation and the extractive model, and Modern changes and reclaiming.

• • • The Three Main Episodes of the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals

σ Pre-colonial Trading and Craftsmanship

This pre-colonial history of critical minerals was manifest in three areas but not limited to them: trading, craftsmanship, and economic leverage.

In terms of local processing or craftsmanship, ancient kingdoms did not just dip up raw ore; local artisans smelted and shaped metals into tools, currency, and fine art.

Concerning the global trade networks, West and Southern African empires traded gold and cooper across the Saharan, the Arab Peninsula, and the Indian Ocean centuries before European colonization.

σ Colonial Exploitation and the Extractive Model

This episode is characterized by the loss of control, raw export legacy, and unequal deals.

Concerning the loss of control, European powers disrupted traditional trade during the colonial era, seizing mines for industrial needs in Europe and North America.

Regarding the raw export legacy, it is known that foreign companies extracted valuable resources like diamonds, gold, and copper while shipping all the light-profit refining and manufacturing overseas.

As to unequal deals, as detailed in the race for critical minerals in Africa, historical policies and modern scrambles largely favoured foreign industrial powers rather than local welfare.

σ Modern Changes and Reclaiming

This third episode is featured by the shipping of raw exports and geopolitical competition.

With respect to shipping raw exports, African nations now pass laws requiring local processing plants instead of just shipping raw stones out.

In terms of geopolitical competition, as noted in “How Africa’s Critical Minerals Are Reshaping Global Supply Chains and Geopolitical Power” – a research analysis published by S&P Global Market Intelligence (10), countries are navigating intense pressures from global players like China and the US to secure better deals and keep profits at home.

This history can also be presented or read in chronological terms.

• • • Chronological Timeline of Critical Minerals in Africa

This timeline is as follows.

1884-1885 (The Berlin Conference)

European powers formalized colonial claims across Africa, establishing export-oriented transport networks, railways, and ports designed to move raw materials out of Africa.

1886 (The Mineral Revolution)

Major discoveries like The Witwatersrand gold rush in South Africa accelerated industrial-scale mining development across Southern and Central Africa.

Early 1900s (Copperbelt Industrialisation)

Large-scale copper and cobalt extraction began in the Central African Copperbelt across modern-day DR Congo and Zambia, driven by entities like Union Minière du Haut Katanga.

1967-1970s (The Nationalization Wave)

Post-independence African governments moved to reclaim control over their resources. DR Congo nationalized Union Minière in 1967 to form Gecamines, and Zambia implemented the Mulungushi Reforms (1968-1970) to take the majority stakes in foreign-owned copper mining operations.

2007-2010 (The Chinese Investment Surge)

Chinese firms heavily expanded across African mining sectors via equity acquisitions and ‘infrastructure-for-resources’ agreements, eventually growing to dominate a substantial portion of copper and cobalt extraction assets (particularly in the DR Congo).

2009 (The African Mining Vision)

The African Union released its African Mining Vision framework, pushing member states to move past raw ore exports and capture higher tiers of the downstream processing and value chain.

2023 (Global Supply Diversification Acts)

Western economies launched aggressive legislative efforts – such as the US partnership initiatives and the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act – to secure stable non-Chinese critical mineral supplies from African partner nations like Namibia and Zambia.

2026 (Infrastructure Corridors and Mapping)

Modern logistics initiatives – such as the Lobito Corridor rail project linking the DR Congo and Zambia to Angola ports – accelerated while governments across the continent increasingly deployed state-backed mining enterprises to mandate domestic resource ownership and high-tech geological surveys.

This year’s MM+D is about celebrating this history. It is a celebration of …

√ Skills to the handling of critical minerals

√ Traditional practices of local artisans who smelted and shaped metals into tools, currency, and fine art

√ African mining communities relying on traditional sustainable ways of life and livelihoods

√ Critical minerals which have become crucial for today’s green technologies and transition

√ Africa’s critical minerals as natural capital and strategic assets

√ The reduction of poverty through critical minerals

√ The generation of workers and the technological heritage tied to extracting Africa’s resources.

So, this year’s MM+D is a celebration of African Abilities, Practices, Talents, Skills, Techniques, Technologies, Gifts and Legacies to Africa and the world in terms of Critical Minerals.

• • MM+D Days

There will be Two Days of the History of Africa’s Critical Minerals as follows:

∝ One day of identifying and profiling historical African figures (including local artisans) in Africa’s Critical Minerals

∝ One day of assessing the historical role of critical minerals in reducing poverty and in enhancing sustainable industrial development in Africa.

Let us summarise the contents of each day’s work.

• • • Heritage and Patrimony Day (27 October 2026): Honoring the Miners

The Day will deal with Heritage, Miners and Patrimony.

• • • • The Heritage Aspect of the Day

On the first day of our MM+D, which is the Heritage and Patrimony Day, the heritage aspect of the day will focus intangible living heritage including indigenous knowledge systems, oral histories, and cultural reconciliation rather than a standalone focus on mineral economics.

• • • • Honoring Miners

On this first day, we shall recognize the generations of workers and the technological heritage tied to extracting Africa’s resources that built modern infrastructure.

This involves prioritizing the safety, dignity, fair compensation, and active community representation of local and artisanal workers of the time rather than reducing them to unseen contributors in a global extraction chain.

• • • • Patrimony Day (Reclaiming Geological Patrimony)

It is the day to reclaim African nations’ geological patrimony from colonial-era extraction models.

Historically, the term patrimony (national heritage, or inherited wealth) in African mining refers to the continent’s struggle to control its own natural resources. For decades, colonial and post-colonial frameworks meant that Africa’s vast mineral wealth was mapped, extracted and shipped abroad with virtually no local value addition.

The geological patrimony can, for instance, cover colonial mapping conflict like the DR Congo’s historical data patrimony that reveals the exact location of the world’s richest deposits of cobalt and cooper.

• • • Legacies and Gifts Day (28 October 2026): The Historical Role of Critical Minerals in Reducing Poverty and in Enhancing Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa

• • • • The Historical Role of Critical Minerals in Reducing Poverty and in Enhancing Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa

Concerning the Historical Role of Critical Minerals in reducing Poverty in Africa, what follows explains this role.

Although the traditional extraction model (which tends to be macroeconomic one) has historically limited the extent to which mineral wealth translates into lifting people out of poverty in Africa, there have been micro-level direct impacts. Studies show that the opening of critical mineral and metal mines has historically provided targeted regional benefits, such as local economic stimulus, livelihood support via artisanal mining, infrastructure improvements.

Regarding the Role of Critical Minerals in Enhancing Sustainable Development in Africa, it can be argued as follows.

There have been some emerging shifts towards sustainability with the drivers of sustainable domestic industrialisation, reproducing an extractive model that limits local value retention. These shifts have been featured by local beneficiation, region integration like the framework of African Continental Free Trade Area, and green transition leverage.

The Day, which will look at the above-mentioned roles, will also cover extractive legacy and geological gift.

• • • • Extractive Legacy and Geological Gift

On the Legacies and Gifts Day of MM+D, we shall cover both extractive legacy, geological legacy and gift.

• • • • • The Extractive Legacy

This is explained by the fact that Africa historically exported unprocessed ores like cobalt, copper, and platinum group metals, draining local value

• • • • • Geological Legacy

We shall highlight how foundational geological formations – like the Witwatersrand Basin – shaped Africa’s economic history, industrial development, and modern transition to green energy and critical minerals.

We shall learn what was handed on to the current generations in terms of knowledge and techniques to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable industrial development in Africa by miners and local artisans of the past.

We shall as well recollect in our memory what these past players dealing with critical minerals gave to today’s green economy and industrial development in Africa. In other words, we shall study the legacies and gifts of critical minerals in reducing poverty and creating wealth in Africa.

• • • • • The Geological Gift to the Green Transition

It is about Africa’s geological gifts to the world. In global climate and technology forums, Africa’s massive reserves of transition materials are frequently referred to as a ‘gift’ that is indispensable to the global future. The continent is often described as holding a natural ‘gift’ as it possesses over 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves. These materials are vital for manufacturing electric vehicles, solar panels, defense systems, and wind-turbines.

Still on the Legacies and Gifts Day of MM+D, we shall discuss how these gifts can be locally processed, be part of value-added manufacturing (beneficiation), and infrastructure investment inside the continent.

The above is this year’s MM+D theme. To engage with this theme and or support this project, please contact CENFACS on this site.

Because we are talking about history, let us remember the history of CENFACS’ MM+D through timeline.

• • Making Memorable Positive Difference Timeline

MM+D has a history and timeline. The following is the timeline of MM+D since its inception.

2009: CENFACS recognised environmental sustainability.

2010: We acknowledged and honoured sports contributions and history in relieving collective poverty and improving community lives beyond fitness and beyond individualistic achievements.

2011: We recollected, remembered and revered caregiving talents and legacies of young carers in enhancing human development (their own development and other people’s development) by reducing the burden of poverty.

2012: We dedicated our historical recognition to Africa’s Global Game Runners and the Science of Running.

2013: Our two days were about the Memorable Positive Difference Made and brought by Working Poor (Miners & Factory Workers) in relieving poverty. We consecrated them to the historical study of The Role of Working Poor Miners and Factory Workers of Natural Resources and Extractive Industries in the Poverty Relief in Africa since the Berlin Conference (1884-5).

2014: We celebrated the place of the African Music and Dance in the pre– and post-colonial eras, the late 1950s and the early 1960s. This celebration focused on the African History of Singing and Dancing and their Impacts on Liberation and Freedoms.

2015: Making Memorable Positive Difference focused on African Negotiators of the History.

2016: We remembered the Protectors and Guardians of the African History and Heritage.

2017: We acknowledged the Communicators of the African History

2018: We learnt about African Communications and Oral History

2019: We searched on the African Health History

2020: We celebrated African Sculpture and Representation of African Historical Figures of the Pre-independence Era (i.e. Period before the 1960s)

2021: We recognised and celebrated of the legacies left by Africans in dance, particularly the Congolese Rumba

2022: We acknowledged the gifts left by Africans in Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty, particularly the Management and Maintenance of These Infrastructures.

2023: We remembered Cottage Industries in Africa or Household-based Industries in their capacity and capability of lifting people out of poverty.

2024: We learnt about the History of African Woven Loincloth and how woven loincloth lifted people out of clothing poverty, although at that time weavers of loincloth might not have thought about reducing clothing poverty.

2025: We covered the History of Africa’s Green Industry and the capacity of this industry in reducing green poverty and enhancing sustainable industrial development in Africa

For further details about these past MM+D events, please contact CENFACS.

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• References

(1) https://www.wri.org/insights/critical-minerals-explained/ (accessed in October 2026)

(2) https://www.globalafricanetwork.com/south-africa/ganteng/african-critical-minerals-summit-acms-2026/ (accessed in October 2026)

(3) https://africa-critical-minerals.metal.com (accessed in October 2026)

(4) https://climate.sustainability-directory.com/term/decolonizing-development/ (accessed in October 2026)

(5) Park, C., (2011), Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York

(6) https://enews.saeon.ac.za/sub-saharan-africa-has-lost-nearly-a-quarter-of-its-biodiversity/ (accessed in September 2026)

(7) https://www.globalgiving.org/learn/what-is-mutual-aid (accessed in October 2026)

(8) https://learn.sustainability-directory.com/area/equipment-sharing-networks (accessed in October 2026)

(9) https://www.studocu.com/row (accessed in September 2026)

(10) https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2026/08/africa-critical-minerals-reshapping-global-supply-chains-geopolitics (accessed in October 2026)

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• Help CENFACS Keep the Poverty Relief Work Going This Year

We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.

One could also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Additionally, we would like to inform you that planned gifting is always an option for giving at CENFACS. Likewise, CENFACS accepts matching gifts from companies running a gift-matching programme.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ NOBLE AND BEAUTIFUL CAUSES OF POVERTY REDUCTION.

JUST GO TO: Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support until the end of 2026 and beyond.

With many thanks.