SOUTH AFRICA: REVENUE WATCH COMMENTS ON DRAFT ROYALTY BILL

Revenue Watch has submitted its analysis of South Africa's proposed new mining and petroleum royalty bill, in response to a government call for public comments. The bill comes amid a momentous transfer of mineral rights to the state, but RWI is concerned that some of its provisions may not be in South Africa's long-term interests. Read more ...

AS TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE ADDS COUNTRIES, GLOBAL COALITION CALLS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT AND REFORM

The Publish What You Pay coalition called on governments and companies to deliver concrete results in the push for transparency and accountability in revenues and payments from oil, gas and mining. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has approved seven new candidate countries, and all 22 EITI nations must now meet the standard for full EITI validation. Read more ...

RWI CONFERENCE: ECONOMISTS AND AFRICAN LEADERS GATHER
IN SENEGAL

At a Revenue Watch gathering in Dakar, Senegal, policymakers, community advocates and national and regional leaders gathered for a day-long session on challenges, solutions and real-world examples from Africa's struggle to address the "resource curse." Panelists included renowned economist Paul Collier and experts and parliamentarians from countries working to improve transparency in budgeting, revenues and contracts. Read more and download session materials ...

TWO SIDES OF THE COIN: LINKING TRANSPARENCY AND THE BUDGETING PROCESS IN AFRICA

Matteo Pellegrini of Publish What You Pay examines the vital link between transparency of revenues and effective budget monitoring, drawing on recent progress by PWYP coalitions in Nigeria, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African nations (from the International Budgeting Project). Read more ...

PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY IN THE GLOBAL FIGHT ON CORRUPTION

Revenue Watch Institute and Publish What You Pay-Indonesia joined in a call for institutionalized transparency standards during a UN anti-corruption conference in Indonesia. "The fight against corruption begins by revealing where money goes before it ends up in the wrong hands," said RWI director Karin Lissakers. Read more ...

OPINION: CALLING FOR A "POLITICAL SURGE" IN IRAQ

On the one year anniversary of the U.S. military surge, community leaders in Iraq have begun to rebuild, but enduring changes such as an equitable oil law, or clean water, will be unreachable as long as growth depends on the factional leaders walled off in Baghdad's Green Zone. In the International Herald Tribune, RWI's Yahia Said explains the urgent need for fair elections and political power-sharing. Full article ...

NEWS: GABON LIFTS SUSPENSION OF ADVOCACY GROUPS

After a widespread outcry from the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) coalition and many others, Gabon's Minister of the Interior announced the reversal of a ban on operations by 22 non-governmental groups, including PWYP Gabon. Read more ...

PWYP US: Transparency Group Condemns Suspension of Gabon NGOs

RWI REVIEW: NEW GUIDE, ILLUMINATING RESOURCE REVENUE TRANSPARENCY

Senior Economist Akram Esanov reviews the latest version of the International Monetary Fund’s Guide, which has become an important reference source for civil society and government. The updated Guide covers key fiscal issues such as medium-term budgeting framework, long-term reporting, and internal oversight of revenue flows.  It can also help resource abundant countries to identify the projects that will have the greatest impact on revenue transparency. Read more ...

AUDIO: The Oil and the Glory

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, oilmen and representatives of the world’s leading nations flocked to the Caspian region seeking a share of the massive oil reserves at stake, and a tense geo-political struggle began. In November, the Revenue Watch Institute and OSI hosted author and journalist Steve LeVine, whose new book The Oil and the Glory gives an account of this latest phase in the epochal struggle for resource wealth. Listen to the author discussion and Q&A ...

NEW FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA RESOURCE WATCH (SARW)
Southern Africa Resource Watch has released four new reports as part of their Resource Insight series on mineral extractions in Sub-Saharan Africa:

• ISSUE 1: Diamonds in Zimbabwe - A Situational Analysis
• ISSUE 2: Malawi and Its Minerals - Are Malawians Benefitting?
• ISSUE 3: Copper Boom in Zambia - Boom for Whom?
• ISSUE 4: The Evolution of Diamond Mining in Lesotho

All reports are in PDF format. For more information, please visit www.sarwatch.org

IDASA POLICY BRIEF: PRO-POOR GOVERNANCE OF OIL REVENUES IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA

A new report by IDASA examines the challenges facing African oil-producing countries in translating oil wealth into poverty reduction and national development, along with the potential roles of civil society and government in tackling these challenges. IDASA is a partner in RWI's International Budget Project and a leading budget monitoring orgaization in Africa. Read more at www.idasa.org ...

PUBLISH WHAT YOU PAY REPORT: U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE CONSIDERS TRANSPARENCY ISSUES

The House Financial Services Committee recently held its first-ever hearing on extractive industry transparency. Witnesses included Ian Gary from Oxfam America and Father Patrick Lafon from the Catholic Church in Cameroon, both members of the Publish What You Pay Coalition. Read the PWYP report and learn more about the momentum for country-by-country reporting of U.S. natural resource revenue payments. Download and read the full report ... (PDF)

RELATED NEWS:  EU Parliament Supports Mandatory Reporting by Oil, Gas and Mining Companies

AZERBAIJAN: The Public Finance Monitoring Center (PFMC) has published a report on the revenues generated by the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli contract. The article describes a summary of the revenues earned by the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, SOCAR, as well as foreign oil companies. The full version of the monitoring material is available (in Russian only) from the website of the Azerbaijani newspaper "ECHO". Please click here for more information.

IMF WORKING PAPER: "Inter-sectoral Linkages and Local Content in Extractive Industries and Beyond - The Case of Sao Tome and Principe" released by the IMF in September 2007, attempts to offer specific inputs to the debate on local content promotion in the oil industry using the specific case of Sao Tome and Principe. The full paper can be downloaded here.

RWI PUBLICATION: Escaping the Resource Curse

In partnership with the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Columbia University Press, the Revenue Watch Institute is pleased to annouce the release of its newest publication in the Resource Curse series, "Escaping the Resource Curse" edited by Macartan Humphreys, Jeffrey Sachs, and Joseph Stiglitz. The book connects the academic, policymaker and activist communities by providing practical recommendations for ending the resource curse.

Read a synopsis of the book or order copies online. To inquire about receiving an RWI complimentary copy, please send email to rwi@revenuewatch.org.

RWI POLICY BRIEFING, APRIL 2007: NEW REPORT FINDS LEGISLATIVE REFORMS IN NIGERIA AT RISK

In a policy brief released today, the Revenue Watch Institute urges Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to enact and sign into law various revenue transparency reforms, including most notably the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative bill, the Fiscal Responsibility bill, and the Freedom of Information bill. The brief also highlights how such reforms have served the public interest and how civil society actors are utilizing these records to promote an improved standard of living for all Nigerians. Download and read the full report ... (PDF)

EITI INVESTOR GROUP: INVESTORS' STATEMENT ON EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY TRANSPARENCY

• Full Statement
• How to Become a Signatory
• Investors' Briefing Note
• Statement Available in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Russian
• Press Release

IASB: International Accounting Standards Board 'Out of Step' with International Transparency Movement

• George Soros weighs in on public disclosure of extractive company payments to governments, and appeals to IASB Chairman to reconsider IAS 14 Operating Segments. Read more
• Publish What You Pay coalition partners have teamed up to publish a report, which deals with the proposed new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for the Extractive Industries. The report argues that country-by-country reporting by oil, gas and mining companies on commercial performance, reserves, taxes and other benefits paid to governments, is essential information for investors, analysts and all other users of company financial statements when making investment decisions about extractive companies. Read the Report

REPORT: Eye on EITI

Publish What You Pay examines progress made on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in the 21 countries that endorsed the agreement four years ago. Eye on EITI outlines the steps necessary to curb the corruption that pervents citizens from benefiting from their country's natural resource wealth. The report finds that while countries - Nigeria and Azerbaijan - have made significant progress in implementing EITI, in about half of the countries, governments have failed to match their rhetoric with tangible measures. Download and read the full press release ... (PDF)

	En Español	En Français

REPORT: Legal Remedies for the Resource Curse

This report from OSI's Justice Initiative is a digest of practical experience in using law to combat corruption across jurisdictions. This report reviews some of the main legal instruments used to date to combat natural resource corruption—as well as new, untested legal remedies that appear promising. Focusing on resource spoliation in Africa, it provides case studies to demonstrate what has and has not worked. It looks at both criminal and civil means of redress. Although corruption in transnational resource extraction is generally subject to inadequate legal safeguards, the report identifies opportunities for civil society action.

REPORT: Follow the Money: A Guide to Monitoring Budgets and Oil and Gas Revenues
Based on a workshop co-organized by the Revenue Watch program, this November 2004 guide provides practical information on how citizens of resource-rich countries can become effective monitors of government earnings and expenditures.

REPORT: Covering Oil: A Reporter's Guide to Energy and Development
This July 2005 report provides journalists with practical information in easily understood language about the petroleum industry and the impact of petroleum on a producing country. We hope that this book will give journalists the background information they need to write in-depth, analytical, critical, and informative pieces on energy and development-a subject affecting millions of readers around the world.