By
Fred Yaw Sarpong
Revenue Watch Institutes (RWI) will this Wednesday
launch the 2013 Resource Governance Index (RGI) globally in Washington DC, USA
while the South Sahara Africa launch will be held in Ghana with the focus on
this country.
The index evaluates the transparency and
accountability of the oil, gas and mining sector in 58 jurisdictions. These are
made up of 55 countries and three provinces.
It also measures the disclosure of information about
natural resources through official sources, and the sector legal setting and
integrity safeguards.
The 2013 RGI index measures the governance of
state-owned companies in 45 countries; natural resource funds in 23 countries;
and sub-national transfer mechanisms in 30 countries.
Briefing the media about the index and upcoming
launch, Emmanuel Kuyole, RWI Africa Regional Coordinator said the objectives of
the index is to provide detailed, country-specific, comparative information
that can serve as a diagnostic tool guide for reform for policy makers,
governments and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
‘It’s will enable a dialogue across actors in the
extractive sector to improve natural resource governance with an evidence-based
approach; and raise global attention to the priority concerns of transparency
and accountability in the extractive sector,’ said Kuyole.
The 58 countries assessed in the index produce more
than 85% of the world’s petroleum, 90% of diamonds and 80% of copper.
Profits from these resources totaled over US$2.6
trillion in 2010. In 41 of these countries, the extractive sector contributed a
third of gross domestic product (GDP) and half of total exports on average.
Kuyole stated that the future of these countries
depends on how well they manage their oil, gas and minerals.
Within the South Saharan Africa (SSA), the report
revealed that for the 17 African countries included in the Index, fuels, ores
and metal exports represented on average more than half of total exports in
2016-2011.
‘In 2011, Nigeria’s oil revenues alone were 60%
higher than international aid to the entire continent,’ Kuyole quoted report
from EITI and OECD.
According to the researchers, Ghana’s rank centered
around 173 questions which were asked with much focused on mining sector. However,
these questions took into consideration Institutional and Legal Setting;
Reporting Practices; and Safeguards and Quality Controls. It is expected that
the 2013 RGI will put Ghana in the rank between one and 58.
According to RWI, the score of RGI will be base on
Satisfactory (71-100), Partial (51-70), Weak (41-50) and Failing (0-40). No
country score 100%.
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