The belief that ‘the prudent use of natural resource wealth should be an important engine for sustainable economic growth that contributes to sustainable development’ has guided the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) enterprise from its very inception. The EITI design, from the start to its most recent evolution, the EITI Standard, has been based on the recognition ‘that a public understanding of government revenues and expenditure over time could help public debate and inform choice of appropriate and realistic options for sustainable development’. The challenge has been and continues to be ensuring that EITI data and processes – the heart...

Since the early 2000s, increased demand for raw materials, particularly on the part of emerging economies, has fueled a global commodity boom (UNDP, 2007). Higher commodity prices have driven an increase in foreign direct investment into the world’s poorest economies, which suggests that there may be a ‘window of opportunity’ for these mineral-rich but poor economies to accelerate their development (ibid.). Indeed, a third of African economies grew by more than 6 per cent in 2012 due to natural resource exports (Africa Progress Panel, 2013), while the World Bank reports that in 2013 net inflows of foreign direct investment to...

This chapter seeks to explore the evolution of the transparency agenda in resource governance and EITI’s place in this evolution. As we suggest, much of the motivation to increase transparency in resource extraction industries is the desire to see these industries contribute more to local socio-economic development, and to ensure that local people are better able to hold government and industry players to account.

Although the EITI is a relatively young international standard, it is representative of a turn in the ‘governance by disclosure’ agenda within the field of global governance since the early 1990s (Rhodes, 1996). This ‘light touch...

EITI is a voluntary international standard that seeks to strengthen governance of the extractive industries through the disclosure of company payments and government revenues, and increasingly through other means, including disclosure of further information (such as in-country transfers); as well as through training and empowerment of government and civil society stakeholders; and building dialogue between national and regional stakeholders. The assumption is that greater transparency will improve accountability, leading to better governance of extractive industry sectors, reduced corruption, and ultimately to better development outcomes from resource extraction.

Since its launch in 2002, EITI has evolved into a global initiative involving...

These case studies provide insight into EITI implementation in four implementing countries: Azerbaijan, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan, and in efforts to increase transparency in one country – Uganda – that is yet to sign up. The aim is to discuss overall implementation, as well as the extent to which the case-study country has been able – or will be able – to ‘localise’ EITI implementation, making it more relevant and meaningful for local communities affected by the extractive industries. This analysis may also offer some ideas on how EITI itself might be adapted to strengthen its local relevance.

Table 1...

EITI and PWYP have driven transparency up the agenda globally, to the heart of the G8 and national legislation. The EITI has progressed significantly since its origins in 2002, both in terms of breadth of take-up and quality of implementation. The new EITI Standard is a welcome refinement, which should make the initiative more relevant, reliable, and accessible. Our case studies indicate that institutional reforms, such as legislating for EITI and establishing permanent government committees for overseeing EITI implementation, generate potential for broad-based and long-lasting changes in culture and mind-set. Yet by themselves, these are not enough to ensure substantive...