At the end of the PWYP African regional meeting, which took place at Limbe on March 2007, a regional action plan was approved by the PWYP coalitions throughout Africa.

In order to further develop, improve and implement some sections of the action plan, the members of the PWYP campaign in Africa agreed to meet in Libreville, Gabon, from 27 to 29 June 2007 after an EITI training organized by the World Bank mostly for French-speaking countries in Africa.

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?

The leadership by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, of a worldwide initiative to improve transparency of revenue payments by oil, gas and mining companies to governments is to be welcomed. The government is right to recognise that accountability for revenue flows is central to poverty reduction in resource-rich developing countries.

“The launch of the EITI, led by the British Government is a landmark approach in encouraging the Governments and Companies to maximize transparency. If the Angolan Government adopted the EITI it would greatly enhance public oversight over the State funds”

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Washington D.C. – It is a sad and perverse paradox of today’s global economy that some of the very wealthiest developing countries are also the very poorest. Countries possessing an abundance of diamonds, gold, oil, gas and exotic minerals can barely feed, clothe, let alone educate, the bulk of their populations which suffer among the highest infant mortality rates and shortest average life span in the world. War and civil strife, not peace, are the norm in many of these resource- rich but troubled areas.

Sir, The Prime Minister’s leadership of a worldwide initiative to improve transparency of revenue payments by oil, gas and mining companies to governments is to be welcomed. The government is right to recognise that accountability for revenue flows is central to poverty reduction in resource rich developing countries. CAFOD, as a member of the Publish What You Pay coalition, is very pleased to be a signatory to the WSSD Joint Statement on Transparency of Payments Initiative for the Extractives Industry.

Op-ed by Director of Global Witness, Simon Taylor.

While oil, gas and minerals are by far the largest sources of state revenue for the world’s poorest nations, these resources, which should help fund development and sustainable economic growth, all too often turn out to be a curse, leading to increased poverty, child malnutrition and civil conflict.

Angola is sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest oil producer after Nigeria, with recent discoveries suggesting it could soon become the largest; this at a time when the 1999 UN Human Development Index (HDI) places Angola at 160 out of 174 countries, according to social indicators.