EITI Updates

The Gabonese authorities arrested six civil society activists and journalists on 31 December 2008. Among the four still in detention are Marc Ona Essangui, member of the EITI Interest Group and PWYP Coordinator in Gabon, Georges Mpaga, also from PWYP, and Gregory Ngoua Mintsa of the non-governmental organisation ROLBG, who is civil plaintiff in a complaint filed in Paris on 2 December 2008, calling for an investigation into assets acquired in France by the Heads of State of Gabon, the Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea. The EITI Chairman has communicated his concern about the arrests to President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, recalling that the free and active engagement of civil society is an indispensable precondition for credible and sustainable EITI implementation.

Norway submitted its application to become an EITI Candidate country on 18 December 2008. Subject to EITI Board, Norway will become the first OECD country to become an EITI implementing country. Terje Riis-Johansen, Norwegian Minister of Oil and Energy said "By now moving from supporting the EITI to also implementing it, we hope to contribute towards the EITI becoming the globally recognised transparency standard for the extractive industry."

The United States and the international community must do more to prevent mismanagement and corruption in developing countries newly enriched by oil export revenues, according to a new Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report.

The gold mining company Oxus Gold is the 39th extractive company to become an international-level EITI Supporting Company. The primary operations of Oxus Gold are inside Uzbekistan, where it has a 50% stake in the Amantaytau Goldfields JV (AGF) which is located in the Kyzylkum region of Uzbekistan. Total AGF ‘Proven and Probable’ reserves were 2,839,000 ozs of gold and 6,739,000 ozs of silver (of which half are attributable to Oxus), under JORC classification.

29-30 October the EITI Board met in Athens, Greece. The Board discussed the implementation of the initiative in each Candidate country and their progress towards validation, agreed on the Workplan for 2009, and prepared for the EITI Global Conference in Doha 16-18 February 2009. The minutes from the meeting are now available.

13 EITI implementing countries are part of the the International Organisation of La Francophonie, OIF, which brings together 70 countries around the French language. The OIF has recommended the use of the EITI as an international standard of transparency. This recommendation was adopted at the twelfth OIF summit that was held 17-19 October 2008 in Quebec.

Welcome to a new edition of the EITI Newsletter. The main story is the passing of a UN Resolution endorsing the EITI. In addition, it provides a briefing on the EITI International Conference, and updates from the West Africa Conference and from Azerbaijan. File:  EITI Newsletter 2008-03.pdf

West African EITI Implementing countries met together for the first EITI West Africa Conference 10-12 September in Abudja. At the opening of the conference, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua gave this message: "The Nigerian experience shows that there is a sense in which we can talk of blood oil.

Ghana has published its third EITI report presenting the aggregation and reconciliation of mining benefits paid by mining companies and received by the Government of Ghana in 2005. Earlier aggregated reports included those for January 2004-June 2004 and July 2004-December 2004. Ghana is hoping to complete validation in 2009.

Welcome to a new edition of the EITI Newsletter. The main story is the 4th EITI International Conference will be held in Doha 16-18 February 2009. In addition, it provides a briefing on EITI Validation, an article focusing on the question ”Does EITI Work?”, and updates from EITI implementing countries Azerbaijan and Equatorial Guinea. File:  EITI Newsletter - August 2008.pdf