African civil society activists met the European Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, and urged him to ensure that openness and accountability to Africa’s people are at the heart of Europe’s growing energy relationship with Africa.

Members of the Publish What You Pay Africa coalition from Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana and Nigeria met the European Union’s top energy official in the Nigerian capital on Wednesday 10th September, for an open and constructive discussion lasting an hour.

Publish What You Pay Africa is a civil society coalition active in more than 20 African countri

This memorandum was produced by representatives of Civil Society groups in Nigeria working extractive revenue transparency and accountability across Nigeria. The memorandum is a product of a well-attended roundtable of over 50 Civil Society groups that brainstormed and came up with a consensus on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) 2009 which is currently before the National Assembly.

Download the Memorandum here.

In Nigeria, as elsewhere, corrupt practices impair oil sector performance. This U4 Brief looks at five approaches to advancing anti-corruption reform in Nigeria’s oil sector: the legal and regulatory framework; open and competitive award procedures; process and revenue transparency; investigation and prosecution of corruption; and oversight and accountability measures.

This U4 Brief attempts to shed light on how public sector institutions governing the Nigerian oil sector permit the existence of corruption. Six areas of corruption risk are addressed: the awarding of licenses; the awarding of contracts; bottlenecks and inefficiencies; the role of bunkering; the exportation of crude; and importing refined products.

On Friday, April 17th 2009, ECOWAS Ministers of Mines and Industries met in Abuja to adopt the Draft ECOWAS Mining Directive after a two-day meeting of experts from Member States.

The West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF), which includes numerous members of the Publish What You Pay coalition put out the following press statement.

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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