{"id":33344,"date":"2022-11-08T17:41:43","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T17:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry"},"modified":"2022-11-08T18:05:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T18:05:32","slug":"calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry","title":{"rendered":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (Eiti) as the country’s energy transition gains traction.<\/p>\n

The executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Graham Hopwood, says the government should join Eiti as soon as possible and start implementing its main stipulations.<\/p>\n

Eiti standards require member countries to disclose information along the extractive industry value chain \u2013 from how extraction rights are awarded to how revenue makes its way through the government and benefits the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government should include in its review of existing minerals and petroleum legislation a full consideration of the principles of Eiti, and a commitment to open contracting,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

According to the second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPPII), Namibia will subscribe to Eiti and\/or review applicable laws governing the extractive industries, including fisheries and forestry, to improve transparency and deepen public trust.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a number of African countries have seen the benefits of contract transparency.<\/p>\n

As of 2021, 26 of Eiti’s 55 implementing countries were in Africa.<\/p>\n

Of these, 11 have published some or all oil and gas contracts, and 13 have published some or all mining contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould Namibia join the Eiti, in line with the initiative’s requirements, the country would be required to disclose contracts and licences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even outside of Eiti, given the global push for enhanced transparency, open contracting or contract transparency will remain an important aspect of the extractives industry agenda,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

Hopwood says minister of mines and energy Tom Alweendo in 2021 noted a clear intention for Namibia to joining Eiti before the end of 2025, when the implementation of the HPPII has been completed.<\/p>\n

Alweendo, however, said the process of joining Eiti may take up to two years to complete.<\/p>\n

Hopwood says the government should further consider adopting open contracting as a means to curb corruption in awarding public contracts.<\/p>\n

He says open contracting is about publishing and using open, accessible and timely information on public contracting to engage citizens and businesses on fixing problems and delivering results.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the opacity and scope for discretion in public contracts public contracting often ends up being governments’ number-one corruption risk,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

He says open contracting enables accountability and scrutiny of public agency; promotes public understanding and safeguards democratic processes, attracts new bidders through transparency; and leads to greater competition in future bids.<\/p>\n

Criticism of open contracting is centred around the insufficient regard for commercially sensitive information and trade secrets.<\/p>\n

Open contracting could also discourage companies from bidding and lead to clustering of bids while undermining incentives for innovation and research towards public goals due to a loss of costly information for contractors, Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

He says continued improvement in the management of the country’s natural resources are vital for enhancing transparency, improving accountability, and fighting corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cPositively, through these policies, the government has demonstrated a theoretical commitment to improved transparency. Indeed these policies \u2013 and particularly the Access to Information Act \u2013 provide a solid foundation on which to make the transition to open contracting in this industry,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

He calls for the implementation of the act without delay.<\/p>\n

The executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Graham Hopwood, says the government should join Eiti as soon as possible and start implementing its main stipulations.<\/p>\n

Eiti standards require member countries to disclose information along the extractive industry value chain \u2013 from how extraction rights are awarded to how revenue makes its way through the government and benefits the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government should include in its review of existing minerals and petroleum legislation a full consideration of the principles of Eiti, and a commitment to open contracting,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

According to the second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPPII), Namibia will subscribe to Eiti and\/or review applicable laws governing the extractive industries, including fisheries and forestry, to improve transparency and deepen public trust.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a number of African countries have seen the benefits of contract transparency.<\/p>\n

As of 2021, 26 of Eiti’s 55 implementing countries were in Africa.<\/p>\n

Of these, 11 have published some or all oil and gas contracts, and 13 have published some or all mining contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould Namibia join the Eiti, in line with the initiative’s requirements, the country would be required to disclose contracts and licences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even outside of Eiti, given the global push for enhanced transparency, open contracting or contract transparency will remain an important aspect of the extractives industry agenda,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

Hopwood says minister of mines and energy Tom Alweendo in 2021 noted a clear intention for Namibia to joining Eiti before the end of 2025, when the implementation of the HPPII has been completed.<\/p>\n

Alweendo, however, said the process of joining Eiti may take up to two years to complete.<\/p>\n

Hopwood says the government should further consider adopting open contracting as a means to curb corruption in awarding public contracts.<\/p>\n

He says open contracting is about publishing and using open, accessible and timely information on public contracting to engage citizens and businesses on fixing problems and delivering results.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the opacity and scope for discretion in public contracts public contracting often ends up being governments’ number-one corruption risk,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

He says open contracting enables accountability and scrutiny of public agency; promotes public understanding and safeguards democratic processes, attracts new bidders through transparency; and leads to greater competition in future bids.<\/p>\n

Criticism of open contracting is centred around the insufficient regard for commercially sensitive information and trade secrets.<\/p>\n

Open contracting could also discourage companies from bidding and lead to clustering of bids while undermining incentives for innovation and research towards public goals due to a loss of costly information for contractors, Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

He says continued improvement in the management of the country’s natural resources are vital for enhancing transparency, improving accountability, and fighting corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cPositively, through these policies, the government has demonstrated a theoretical commitment to improved transparency. Indeed these policies \u2013 and particularly the Access to Information Act \u2013 provide a solid foundation on which to make the transition to open contracting in this industry,\u201d Hopwood says.<\/p>\n

He calls for the implementation of the act without delay.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (Eiti) as the country’s energy transition gains traction. The executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Graham Hopwood, says the government should join Eiti as soon as possible and start implementing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":33343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-33344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nCalls for transparency in extractive industry - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiat ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Calls for transparency in extractive industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiat ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-08T17:41:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-08T18:05:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Calls for transparency in extractive industry\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-08T17:41:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-08T18:05:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\"},\"wordCount\":1033,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\",\"name\":\"Calls for transparency in extractive industry - Namibia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-08T17:41:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-08T18:05:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiat ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Calls for transparency in extractive industry\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Calls for transparency in extractive industry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\",\"name\":\"Namibia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry - Namibia","description":"CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiat ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry","og_description":"CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiat ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry","og_site_name":"Namibia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-11-08T17:41:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-08T18:05:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry","datePublished":"2022-11-08T17:41:43+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-08T18:05:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry"},"wordCount":1033,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg","keywords":["africa press","Africa Press-Namibia","namibia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry","name":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry - Namibia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-08T17:41:43+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-08T18:05:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"CIVIL society is urging the government to speed up the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiat ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_23-636a9a520f9c8.jpg","width":750,"height":450,"caption":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/calls-for-transparency-in-extractive-industry#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Calls for transparency in extractive industry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/","name":"Namibia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}