Pinehas K Pinehas
As Namibia continues to endure economic challenges, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is advocating for Namibia to become a part of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
EITI is the global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources, one of the country’s most lucrative industries.
“The issues of transparency and accountability in the extractive sector of Namibia intersect automatically with the EITI as an institution and the global standard for transparency and accountability in the extractive industries. For over 10 years, the IPPR has recommended EITI, though the momentum grew in 2021 when the second Harambee Prosperity Plan included joining the EITI as a recommendation,” Graham Hopwood, Executive Director of the IPPR, said at an event last week.
Despite consultations conducted by the government, Namibia failed to reach the requirements of the EITI standards.
These include the contract transparency in the extraction industries of oil, gas and mineral resources as well as the public beneficial ownership disclosure.
The absence of these mechanisms hinders tracking of who controls and benefits from the extraction ventures, IPPR says.
Hopwood added that the lack of any disclosure of environmental and social expenditures by companies involved in the extractive sector hinders Namibia from becoming a part of the EITI.
“If we were able to establish who the real owners of companies are, there wouldn’t necessarily be the suspicion about possible politicians and their relatives being involved in corruption because it would be very easy to accurately establish in public records who actually owns these entities and who is involved, but while it’s obscure and opaque as it is at the moment, it leaves room for a lot of speculation, and much may not be true; hence, transparency in this instance helps us all,” continued Hopwood.
He added: “Namibia needs offices of access to information set up so that the public can have confidence that there will be transparency and proper means of tackling corruption in our laws.”