African nations meet in Nigeria to plan ownership disclosures in extractive industry

The nine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) implementing countries in the Anglophone and Lusophone region of Africa are meeting on Abuja on Monday to plan for the implementation of beneficial ownership disclosures in oil and gas industry.

The nine English and Portuguese speaking countries in Africa include Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Sao Tome en Principe and the host nation, Nigeria.

Senior government officials, oil companies, civil society, legislature and development partners are also expected to participate in the meeting.

Sponsored by the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI) and the Department for International Development (DFID), the workshop is scheduled for October 31 to November 3.

NEITI spokesperson, Ogbonnaya Orji, said on Thursday the workshop would help develop strategies and a workable plan to guide member countries in their implementation of beneficial ownership disclosures.

Effective January 1, 2017, the new global EITI guidelines require all EITI-implementing countries to publish a roadmap for disclosing the beneficial owners of companies doing businesses in their extractive sectors.

“The mandatory disclosure of beneficial owners of companies in implementing countries’ reports is a new requirement introduced by the global EITI to push the boundaries of transparency and accountability in the management of oil, gas and mining revenues to reduce poverty and support national development in member countries,” Mr. Orji said.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio, said the choice of Nigeria as host confirms her huge interest to embrace the new policy.

Mr. Adio said President Muhammadu Buhari joined other world leaders to endorse the London agreement on anti-corruption requiring governments to open public registers of beneficial owners of corporate companies bidding for, operating or investing in extractive assets.

The EITI expects implementing countries to fully comply with beneficial ownership disclosures by the year 2020.