New Niger Constitution Includes Landmark Transparency Measures
Date: 5 Nov 2010
On October 31, citizens of Niger voted on a new constitution that includes extraordinary assurances of transparency in the natural resource sector. The new constitution, which was approved by an overwhelming 90% margin, includes strong protections for transparency and development that, if enforced effectively, will bolster public oversight and the accountability of the country’s crucial mineral and petroleum activities.
Among the key provisions is Article 150, which requires the publication of natural resource contracts as well as national resource revenues on a disaggregated, company-by-company basis. These mandated disclosures will ensure that Nigeriens have access to thorough and detailed information on state benefits from natural resources.
“Having these practices enshrined at a constitutional level is very powerful,” said Revenue Watch Legal Advisor Patrick Heller. “It means that they must be published, and that this rule cannot be abrogated or changed without amending the constitution.”
Other laudable provisions of the new constitution enshrine the principles of transparency in natural resource management, as well as cultural and environmental preservation, and require the establishment of a natural resources savings fund for future generations.
The drafting of the constitution was directed in large part by the Niger Consultative Council, under the leadership of President Marou Amadou. Amadou, a member of Niger’s Publish What You Pay coalition, has been a longtime champion of natural resource transparency in Niger, and was arrested in 2009 during a crackdown on activists by the autocratic regime of former President Mamadou Tandja.
Revenue Watch was honored to provide input on international best practices to the drafters of these natural resource provisions. More important, however, was the influence of local civil society activists in ROTAB-PWYP, with whom Revenue Watch has partnered since 2007, providing both technical and financial guidance to help civil society activists identify and create opportunities for transparency advocacy.
“Extractive industry transparency issues have been among the chief demands of ROTAB-PWYP,” noted Revenue Watch Deputy Africa Regional Coordinator Evelyne Tsague. “When the opportunity arose for these civil society members to be involved in the constitution drafting process, they brought their years of expertise and advocacy experience to the table in making these suggestions, which were finally approved by Nigeriens.”
Niger is the world’s third largest producer of uranium, which accounts for an estimated 43 percent of exports. Despite this natural wealth, Niger still ranked 182 out of 182 in the UNDP’s Human Development Index for 2009. In recent years, the country’s government has taken steps to increase the fiscal impact of mining resources on the country’s population by amending its oil and mining laws, but progress towards transparency is uneven.
The constitution calls for a handover of power from the military junta to an elected civilian regime in early 2011. That regime will be responsible for enforcing these pioneering new transparency provisions.
