By Standard Digital Reporter
NAIROBI, KENYA: Communities will now be able to hold government’s accountable for proceeds from natural resources courtesy of new rules.
Europe’s new transparency rules now require oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose full information payments to governments over 100,000 Euros.
“Europe’s new transparency rules will help Africa to seize more effectively the opportunity of its natural resource wealth,” said Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General and Chair of the Africa Progress Panel.
“When local communities know how much business is paying to extract oil, gas, or minerals, they are in a better position to demand a fair share of the revenue,” he said
“In this way, oil, gas, and mining projects bring more benefits to local communities,” he said.
Annan said that the extractive companies also would benefit from these new rules.
“When they benefit local communities, mining projects are more likely to win “social consent”. In the long-run, this reduces political risk,” he explained.
By covering more and more extractive companies, recent US legislation and new European rules move the world closer to a global standard on transparency.
“Other countries, such as Canada, China, and Switzerland must now adopt these standards,” Mr Annan said.
The European parliament and member states are expected to endorse the rules before Ireland’s presidency of the European Union comes to an end in June.
