This article was originally published on page 10 of Pretoria News on September 22, 2008

South African oil workers Dan Laarman and Robert Berrie have been released after a mercifully short period as hostages in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta.

They, and most of the world, were probably unaware of the devastating impact the oil industry has had on Africa.

In 2001 Washington called for a major diversification of US oil supplies away from the politically volatile Persian Gulf to “friendlier” sub-Saharan Africa.

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This report focuses on the paradoxical links between natural resource wealth and child poverty in developing countries, including Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Sudan and Venezuela. It includes recommendations for governments, companies, shareholders, donors and civil society on how to enhance transparency over company payments and government revenues, which Save the Children UK believes to be integral to a more accountable system for the management of such revenues that is in the best interests of children.

PWYP coalitions from across Africa met in Abuja for the PWYP 2008 Africa Regional Meeting which took place from 8–10 September. The meeting was hosted by PWYP Nigeria and aimed to review campaign strategies and strengthen the capacity of civil society to effectively advocate for transparency and accountability in the management of extractive resources in Africa.

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The International Publish What You Pay Coalition (PWYP)[1] and its partner organizations in São Tomé and Principe and Nigeria are extremely concerned about serious flaws revealed by a report into the 2005 bidding round for oil blocks in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ).

Africa is fast becoming a key supplier of oil to the United States. In a decade, nearly a quarter of all oil supplies will come from the region. As this report argues, despite this “oil boom” ordinary Africans will see no improvements to their lives so long as revenues continue to flow into governments lacking in transparency and accountability. This report addresses two key questions: How can Africa’s oil boom contribute to relieving poverty? What policy changes should be implemented to promote the management and allocation of oil revenues in a way that will benefit ordinary Africans?

Declaration of the PWYP Nigerian coalition at the campaign launch event in Port Harcourt.

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The Commission for Africa should endorse the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Publish What You Pay as approaches for tackling the problems associated with the extractive industries in Nigeria

Presentation by David Ugolor, President of African Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, on the occassion of the EU Multi-stakeholder Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility’s Roundtable on the “Development aspect of CSR”, Brussels, Belgium.

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