Director of Global Initiatives & Impact at PWYP, Duncan Edwards made this call, saying that income from the extractive industries (oil, gas and mining) could be an important source of revenue for a country’s development.
The director also said that in many countries which are rich in natural resources, the revenues generated from the extraction of these resources don’t benefit the country’s population.
Revenues, the council said, are sometimes lost through mismanagement; but in other cases, they are lost as a result of corruption.
“Secretly owned companies, where the identity of the beneficial owners is hidden, are a key mechanism through which money is laundered,” PWYP said.
Edwards also said the 18th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Copenhagen, Denmark, has placed a strong emphasis on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on peace, justice and open and effective institutions.
As the conference draws to a close, Publish What You Pay calls on all governments to systematically collect and make publicly accessible the information on the beneficial owners of extractive companies domiciled and operating in their territories, and to actively analyse and act upon this analysis. Governments should utilise information on beneficial ownership and politically exposed persons (PEPs) in assessments during the licensing process for new extractives projects as a safeguard against nepotism and cronyism.
Further, Publish What You Pay calls on oil, gas and mining companies to use beneficial ownership and PEP data in their due diligence of business partners and subcontractors to reduce the risk of corruption within their business operations and supply chains.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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The discussion highlights how many resource-rich countries fail to ensure that revenues from natural resources benefit their populations fairly. According to Publish What You Pay, corruption and mismanagement often lead to the loss of these revenues through secretly owned companies and hidden beneficial ownership structures. The organization emphasized the importance of transparency during the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen, where strong attention was given to Sustainable Development Goal 16 focused on justice and effective institutions. Publish What You Pay urged governments to make beneficial ownership information publicly accessible and to use this data to prevent nepotism, corruption, and cronyism in extractive industries. The organization also encouraged oil, gas, and mining companies to apply strict due diligence practices with business partners and subcontractors to reduce corruption risks across supply chains.
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