International Transparent
2010
International Transparent
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Transparency in Government Operations (Occasional Paper (Intl Monetary Fund)) Ge $28.94 |
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ANDREAS CAHLING, SWEDISH BODYBUILDER, MR. INTERNATIONAL 1980, COLOR TRANSPARENCY $34.99 |
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ANDREAS CAHLING, SWEDISH BODYBUILDER, MR. INTERNATIONAL 1980, COLOR TRANSPARENCY $29.99 |
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Update International MCV-1BK – 9-1/4 in x 12 in Transparent Single Menu Cover, $10.80 |
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1 x 35 mm Transparency – BOEING 727 – ORLY 1974 – AIR CHARTER INTERNATIONAL $15.65 |
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Global Corruption Report: Climate Change Transparency International $38.70 |
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Global Corruption Report: Climate Change Transparency International $156.10 |
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Economic Effects of Transparency in International Equit $56.40 |
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The Limits Of Transparency: Ambiguity And The History Of International Finance J $59.80 |
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The Limits of Transparency: Ambiguity and the History of International Finance B $33.27 |
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ENGLISH US INTERNATIONAL TRANSPARENT KEYBOARD STICKERS $2.42 |
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ENGLISH US INTERNATIONAL TRANSPARENT KEYBOARD STICKERS $2.42 |
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Ethics, Economics and International Relations: Transparent Sovereignty in the… $6.00 |
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Global Corruption Report 2005 by Transparency International (2005, Hardcover) $12.60 |
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Global Corruption Report 2006 by Transparency International (2006, Hardcover) $7.95 |
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Global Corruption Report 2005 by Transparency International (2005, Paperback) $3.00 |
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The Limits of Transparency: Ambiguity and the History of International… $17.10 |
International Transparent
Transparency in the Management of Natural Resources
In most of the developing countries, these resources are useless to the common man or ordinary citizen – meaning the real owners of theses natural resources are left out whilst foreigners or strangers come and benefit from it. With a close researched, I came to realise that there is no transparency in most of these developing countries. Because of this, there is always corruption and conflict. Across the globe, revenues from Diamond, Gold, oil, gas and other natural mineral resources that should be funding sustainable economic development have been misappropriated and mismanaged.
For Sierra Leone, in the past regimes, government do not provide basic information about revenues from natural resources nor do mining companies publish any information about payment made to government. Even ordinary citizens, who often own a county’s resources under its constitution, are left without the information to call their government to account over the management of their revenues. Meaning, the ordinary citizens who are the real owners of the natural resources, are often left dispossessed and reliant on donor assistance. But this time round, with new policies in place we can see that the present regime is ready to revamp those weaknesses as the Private Sector is the heartbeat of the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma.
Even if the public disclose revenues by extractive companies and governments in resources-dependent countries that will not stop corruption overnight, because without transparency, there can be no accountable government. For this reason, transparency in the management of revenues from natural resources is fundamental for successful development and poverty reduction. The mining of natural resources are critically important economic sector that can help any developing country to develop. In most of the countries where natural resources are mine, people in those countries, some 2.5 billion live on less than US$1 per day and constitute over two-thirds of the world’s poorest people.
Further to my researched, I would like to remind our governments and mining companies about the initiative made by the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Department for International Development on the forum called the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to promote action by governments and companies on the above issue. Again, the way I see it the monitoring of our revenues from natural resources could be improved by amending the operational parameters of the World Bank and IMF to mainstream revenue transparency across their lending and technical assistance portfolios, by making it a condition for all aid and loan and national poverty reduction strategy consultations.
Also, achieving a complete picture of government income from resources will therefore require governments to reveal their revenue streams from both state-owned companies and production sharing arrangements. This information added to data from companies about what they have paid, will create a form of double-disclosure bookkeeping that will enable the citizens of resource-rich-but-poor countries to track the movement of revenues into the national budget.
I would like to recommend that capacity-building assistance to government in non-transparent countries should be targeted at domestic constituencies for reform, such as finance ministries trying to centralise accounting and budgeting. To improved the capacity of local civil society to call governments to account over the way revenues are manage and spent. Also, resources-rich developing countries should be targetet with more effective capacity-building assistance before extraction begins, so as to promote best practice in contracting and revenue management from the start. This role could by played by bilateral donors, or by multilateral agencies like the World Bank. It is good to note that the goal of revenue transparency is fully consistent with the international objectives of accountable government, corruption prevention and democratic debate about issues of resources management.
Finally, accountability and transparency is a necessary condition of good governance, and should be recognised as such by both national and international finance institutions when they allocate taxpayers’ money. It is time for national government to come clean on their income from natural resources and for the international community to require revenue transparency from those extracting resource revenues. Remember transparency will not eliminate corruption overnight in resource-rich-but-poor countries but, without it, we do not stand a chance.
About the Author
Allan Metzger is a Sierra Leonean by nationality, an International Trade Expert and a Research Fellow. He has worked in various disciplines as a humanitarian, an Economic Researcher and a Freelance Writer. In the media part of his life, he has worked as a Reporter and Presenter for ABC Television Africa, Sierra Leone, a staff writer for CRITIC Magazine International, a guest Writer for the Newday Magazine and he has also served as a Guest Writer for the Exclusive Newspaper all in Sierra Leone. He has covered stories as a JHR reporter at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He was the journalist who took initiative interview political party leaders on the aftermath of the Local Election in Sierra Leone in 2008. He has also published several articles in the Print and electronic media in Sierra Leone. Based on his expertise, he was entrusted with an EU TradeCom Consultancy job for it research purposes. Allan is a member of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAJ) and a Member of the Freelance Association in the UK. By discipline, he is an Economist, Researcher and a Writer. He got his discipline from the Writers Bureau College of Journalism and from the Cambridge College all in the UK. He has travel extensively in the Sub Sahara Africa countries, Switzerland and few European Countries.
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