Tongnoma Zongo is a geographer with a joint PhD. from the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne Pantheon (France) and the University Joseph Ki Zerbo (Burkina Faso), with expertise on the political geography of mineral resources. His research focuses on gold and territorial dynamics in Burkina Faso. Tongnoma Zongo is a Research Associate at the Institut des Sciences des Sociétés (INSS) of Burkina Faso. He has a long-standing research interest and experience in analyzing the political economy of industrial as well as artisanal- and small-scale mining in Burkina Faso.  Her current research focuses Fellow at Merian Institute for advanced Studies in Africa MIASA-University of Ghana is Negotiating mine Closure in West Africa.

MIASA Project:

The project 'Negotiating Mine Closure in West Africa' investigates the various afterlives of mineral extraction. Based on explorative research in Burkina Faso and Guinea (Conakry) it identifies actors, themes and places relevant for governing the transition to post-mining, and for the closure or bust phases of mineral production. The conceptual framework of 'mining temporalities' is used to address both the temporality of the mining activity itself, and of its governance in West African countries. In particular we are interested in the very moments and mechanisms through which mine closure gathers public interest and becomes a political issue (or not).