The Board agreed that Mali has made meaningful progress with considerable improvements in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard.

Board decision

Following the conclusion of Mali’s second Validation on 17 June 2019, the EITI Board concluded that Mali has made meaningful progress overall in implementing the EITI Standard, with considerable improvements across individual requirements.

The EITI Board agreed that Mali has partly addressed the corrective actions from the country’s first Validation. Consequently, Mali has made meaningful progress overall with implementing the EITI Standard, with considerable improvements across several individual requirements.

The Board recognised Mali’s efforts to use the EITI to as an annual diagnostic of government systems in challenging circumstances linked to country’s political and security fragility. Mali’s EITI implementation was recognised as having led to tangible reforms in the country’s public financial management, tax administration and tax policy.

The Board noted that, while the EITI’s requirement on subnational transfers is not applicable to Mali in the years under review, stakeholders have gone beyond the EITI Requirements in using EITI reporting as a means of ensuring greater transparency and accountability in the public financial management of extractives revenues, particularly with the redistribution of taxes to local governments, to meet robust popular demand for this information.

While recognising improvements in the multi-stakeholder group’s (MSG) oversight of implementation, the Board encouraged Mali to strengthen the accountability of MSG representatives to their respective constituencies. Mali is also encouraged to strengthen its use of EITI as a diagnostic of license allocations and transfers, while adopting a more systematic approach to following up on recommendations and assessing impact. The Board encouraged Mali to explore opportunities to improve government and company disclosures through systematic disclosures of data required under the EITI Standard.

The Board has determined that Mali will have 12 months, i.e. until 17 June 2020 before a third Validation to carry out corrective actions regarding MSG oversight (1.4), license allocations (2.2), discrepancies and recommendations from EITI Reports (7.3), outcomes and impact of EITI implementation (7.4).  Failure to achieve satisfactory progress in the Third Validation will result in suspension in accordance with the EITI Standard. In accordance with the EITI Standard, Mali’s MSG may request an extension of this timeframe, or request that Validation commences earlier than scheduled.

Corrective actions and strategic recommendations

The EITI Board agreed the following corrective actions to be undertaken by Mali. Progress in addressing these corrective actions will be assessed in a thrid Validation commencing on 17 June 2020:

1. In accordance with Requirement 1.4, Mali should ensure that the procedures for nominating and changing EITI multi-stakeholder group representatives are public and implemented in practice. Mali is encouraged to ensure that effective outreach activities are undertaken with civil society groups and companies, including through communication such as media, website and letters, informing stakeholders of the government’s commitment to implement the EITI, and the central role of companies and civil society. Members of the MSG are strongly encouraged to liaise with their constituency groups on a regular basis, and to consult broadly on EITI documents, including the annual progress report, the work plan, and the EITI Report.

2. In accordance with Requirement 2.2.a, Mali should ensure that the awards and transfers of mining, oil, and gas licenses during the year are publicly disclosed annually, highlighting the process for awarding and transferring licenses, including technical and financial criteria, and any non-trivial deviations from the applicable legal and regulatory framework governing license awards and transfers.

3. In accordance with Requirement 7.3, Mali should introduce a systematic and structured mechanism to track follow-up on recommendations from EITI Reports and from Validation, with a clear timeframe and clear responsibilities for follow-up. Mali should also take a more proactive role in formulating its own recommendations. Mali should ensure that the next annual progress report and EITI Report provide a detailed summary of progress in implementing recommendations from EITI Reports and Validation.

4. In accordance with Requirement 7.4.a.iv, Mali should include an assessment of progress with achieving the objectives set out in its work plan, including the impact and outcomes of the stated objectives. Mali may wish to conduct a dedicated assessment of the impact of EITI implementation in Mali.

Background

Mali was admitted as an EITI Candidate in September 2007.  The first Validation of Mali commenced on 1 July 2016. On 24 May 2017, the EITI Board found that Mali had made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. Nine corrective actions were established by the EITI Board, pertaining to the following requirements:

1. MSG governance (Requirement 1.4)

2. Workplan (Requirement 1.5)

3. Licence allocation and licence registers (Requirements 2.2 and 2.3)

4. Comprehensiveness (Requirement 4.1)

5. Data quality (Requirement 4.9)

6. Subnational transfers (Requirement 5.2)

7. Public Debate (Requirement 7.1)

8. Follow up on Recommendations (Requirement 7.3)

9. Review of outcomes and impact (Requirement 7.4).

The Board asked Mali to address these corrective actions to be assessed in the second Validation. Mali has undertaken a number of activities to address the corrective actions:

• Publishing its 2017 Annual Progress Report on 31 July 2018;

• Publishing its 2016 EITI Report on 31 December 2018;

• Adopting a revised EITI Decree on 10 January 2019;

• Publishing the updated MSG ToR on 21 February 2019;

• Publishing the industry constituency ToR on 21 February 2019;

• Publishing the 2019 Mali EITI work plan on 21 February 2019;

• Publishing a plan to follow-up on EITI recommendations on 21 February 2019.

Mali’s second Validation commenced on 27 February 2019. The Secretariat assessed the progress made in addressing the nine corrective actions established by the EITI Board. The EITI International Secretariat’s assessment is that Mali has fully addressed five of the nine corrective actions, with significant improvements on the four outstanding requirements. The draft assessment was sent to the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) on 3 May 2019. Following MSG comments expected on 24 May 2019, the assessment will be finalised for consideration by the EITI Board.