Progress in Countries Implementing the EITI

Case Studies: Liberia and Nigeria

Liberia

Following a 14 year civil war, Liberia’s 2005 general elections brought a new government that vowed to reinvigorate national growth and development efforts through more transparent and effective revenue management.

In September 2008, newly elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf issued a formal proclamation making the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) a government priority. This proclamation encouraged all government agencies and extractive companies to comply with EITI principles.

The first Liberian EITI report was launched in February 2009 by President Johnson Sirleaf and is the first EITI report to include the forestry sector. In July 2009, the President signed into law an act formalizing the Liberian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI). The LEITI Act requires that all government departments and extractive industry companies comply with the Liberian EITI process. It goes far beyond the core EITI requirements, in that it covers the forestry and rubber sector, as well as oil, gas and mining. This is an important step in Liberia’s push for development as forestry accounts for 57 percent of Liberia’s exports. The new legislation also requires that the reports published payments by individual companies, and that operating contracts and licenses are published and reviewed.

Often lauded for its robust and active civil society engagement in the EITI, Liberia produced its final EITI Validation report in August 2009. Despite its past history of civil strife, Liberia is fast becoming the benchmark in EITI progress.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, the oil sector accounts for approximately half of country's GDP and over 80 percent of the government’s revenue. In May 2007, legislation was passed which formalized the EITI principles into Nigerian law, making the EITI and revenue transparency mandatory. The law established the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and granted permission for the NEITI to conduct comprehensive audits of the oil, gas and mining sectors on an annual basis. The Act also authorizes the NEITI to receive and publish information on payments made by extractive industries and received by governments. Nigeria was the first EITI implementing country to enshrine the EITI principles into domestic law.

To oversee the NEITI, Nigeria established a National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) which comprises representatives from civil society, government, and extractive industry companies. Nigeria has undertaken a set of financial, physical and process audits to evaluate how well the process is progressing.

The NEITI Secretariat has undertaken a number of initiatives (e.g. training workshops, development of communications strategy, etc.) to increase awareness regarding the implementation of the NEITI and its benefits, build capacity within government and civil society to engage in the process, as well as mobilize domestic support for extractive revenue transparency. These educational and awareness-raising initiatives will continue, as will annual audits to ensure that the EITI process is working effectively.

Nigeria is begun to experience real benefits from implementing NEITI. Since 2007, the Nigerian government has reported N125 billion (US $1 billion) in additional revenues from extractive industry operations.