Rudolf Gaiseb
Last week, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) appealed to Namibians to join them, promising great benefits would accrue as a result. So far, 55 countries have implemented the EITI.
Speaking at a consultative meeting in the capital last week, EITI’s executive director Mark Robinson, emphasised that their goal is to ensure that a country’s natural resources primarily benefit its citizens.
“That may seem very obvious, but sadly is not always the case. At times, corruption takes the resources away, and people with power and private interests dominate,” he said.
The EITI promotes open and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources in member states and requires the disclosure of information along its value chains to the wider public.
Robinson also highlighted the data disclosed includes extractive contracts and licences, production, taxation, revenue collection and allocation, and social and economic spending.
“The mere existence of information in the public domain makes a big difference. It is a resource the media can use to scrutinise and report on,” he noted.
He added that it is also used to foster public debate, inform legal and fiscal reforms, identify corruption risks, and strengthen tax collection.
Neighbouring Angola and Zambia have implemented the EITI global standard.
Institute for Public Policy Research executive director Graham Hopwood, who backs this implementation, noted the consultations were made with the government to streamline the standard as it aligns with Namibia’s second Harambee Prosperity Plan (2021-25).
“Harambee Prosperity Plan II under the Effective Governance Pillar commits the government to either join the EITI, or introduce its reforms that meet the EITI standard by March 2025. The HPP included forestry and fisheries as well as mining, oil and gas,” he said.
He added: “As a consequence of the Harambee commitment, during 2023 the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) commissioned consultants to report on the Harambee options, and whether Namibia should join EITI or not. There were several consultation meetings and a final validation workshop.
“The consultant’s report was completed in the latter part of 2023, and handed to the ministry for consideration. In the latter part of 2024, MME brought a submission to Cabinet, recommending joining EITI. As far as I know, the decision has not yet been made. And the Harambee pledge is to be fulfilled in March 2025,” he remarked.
He continued that subscribing to the global standards on the extractive industry is also part of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan, which ends this year.
A 2021 report ‘Impact of Mining Sector on the Namibia Economy: Assessing Socio-economic and Environmental Effects’ by the National Planning Commission, revealed the ownership of Namibia’s different mines is largely dominated by foreign companies, who mainly extract and export minerals to external markets.
“Ownership of all mines combined is skewed more towards foreign (88.1%) than Namibian (local—only 11.9%),” the report stated.
Further, the report underscored the limited capacity and resources within the public sector to effectively detect and combat tax evasion malpractices.
“The mechanisms deployed to facilitate tax evasion are growing in sophistication, which results in the likelihood of mining companies paying little or no taxes when they use schemes such as overpricing sales, excessive interest deductions and the undervaluation of mineral exports. Another problem identified through consultations was the limited knowledge of the mining value chain,” the report indicates.
Moreover, the report hints that the failure to sign up for the global transparency initiative, such as the EITI, is a missed opportunity for the country.
The same report indicates that the MEE during the country review mission consultations reported that Namibia is working towards joining the EITI by 2025.
–rrgaiseb@gmail.com