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Africa Programme Conference Summary Report
Promoting Democratic
Management of
Africa’s Oil Wealth:
Lessons from Angola,
São Tomé e Príncipe,
and Nigeria
25-26 August 2010

Findings from a joint project by Chatham House, Cat holic Relief
Services and Human Rights Watch

Funded by the Ford Foundation

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Conference Summary Report
Promoting Democratic Management of Africa’s Oil Wea lth:
Lessons from Angola, São Tomé e Príncipe, and Niger ia

This meeting disseminated lessons from “Promoting D emocratic Management
of Africa’s Oil Wealth” – a regional project that a ddressed oil revenue
transparency and accountability in several countrie s in sub-Saharan Africa.
The project’s goal was to inform international publ ic debate on the extractives
industry – primarily oil revenue management in Afri ca and to help citizens
gain an understanding of the amount and use of oil revenues so that they can
hold their own governments accountable. The meeting aimed to increase
regional understanding of challenges in oil revenue management and
transparency.

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Contents Page

Session 1 – Lessons from São Tomé e Príncipe ……………………………………………………… 5
Alex Vines, London …………………………… ………………………………………………………………… 5
Carla Sardinha Vieira, Webeto, Luanda………….. ……………………………………………………… 5
Lulsegged Abebe, International Alert, London ……. …………………………………………………… 6
Gisa W eszkalnys, Exeter University …………….. ……………………………………………………….. 6
Session 2 – Lessons from Angola ……………….. ………………………………………………………… 7
Lisa Misol, Human Rights Watch, New York……….. ………………………………………………….. 7
Diarmid O’Sullivan, Global Witness, London ……… …………………………………………………… 8
Padre Belmiro Chissengueti, Angola Catholic Bishops ’ Conference
Justice and Peace Commission, Luanda …………… …………………………………………………… 8

Nick Shaxson, Chatham House …………………… ……………………………………………………….. 8
Session 3 – Lessons from Nigeria ………………. ………………………………………………………… 9
Nicholas Shaxson, Chatham House, London ………… ……………………………………………….. 9
Madeline Young, FRIDE, Madrid…………………. ………………………………………………………. 10
Fr. Edward Osang Obi, Centre for Corporate and Soci al Responsibility,
Port Harcourt ……………………………….. …………………………………………………………………… 10

Vanessa Herringshaw, Revenue W atch Institute, Londo n……………………………………….. 11
Session 4 – Voluntary Initiatives and Oil Governance……………………………………………. 13
Eddie Rich, EITI Secretariat, Oslo…………….. …………………………………………………………. 13

Joseph Williams, Publish What You Pay, London …… …………………………………………….. 14
Jean-François Lassalle, Vice President of Public Af fairs for France and
NGOS at Total, Paris …………………………. ………………………………………………………………. 15

Ian Gary, Senior Policy Manager for Extractive Indu stries for Oxfam
America, Washington DC ……………………….. ………………………………………………………….. 16

Q&A Session: ………………………………… …………………………………………………………………. 17
Conclusion………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………… 20

Promoting Democratic Management of Africa’s Oil W ealth
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Discussion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23
Speaker Biographies ………………………….. ………………………………………………………………. 26

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Session 1 – Lessons from São Tomé e Príncipe

Chair
Patrick Raleigh, Economist Intelligence Unit, Londo n
Alex Vines, London
Carla Sardinha Vieira, Webeto, Luanda
Lulsegged Abebe, International Alert, London
Discussant – Gisa Weszkalnys, Exeter University
Alex Vines, London
This session began with Alex Vines outlining some o f the key conclusions
from the recently published Human Rights Watch Repo rt that he wrote – ‘An
Uncertain Future: Oil contracts and stalled Reform in São Tomé e Príncipe’.
The report argues that São Tomé e Príncipe has made taken some positive
steps with regards to laying down a legislative fra mework needed to manage
future oil wealth, and entering an agreement with N igeria to jointly manage a
disputed offshore area. However the São Tomé govern ment has struggled to
resist the temptations of oil wealth, despite the l ack of oil currently being
produced. The country as a whole remains poorly pre pared to positively
utilise the benefits that could accrue from oil wea lth. A clear sign of this came
when São Tomé was removed from the Extractive Indus tries Transparency
Initiative’s list of candidate countries in 2010. O f particular concern is the
apparent failure of the São Tomé Government to nego tiate deals which
deliver adequately for the rights and concessions b eing traded away. A root
cause of all of this is arguably the lack of transp arency regarding deals and
associated documentation.
Carla Sardinha Vieira, Webeto, Luanda
This was a message echoed by Carla Sardinha Vieira of W ebeto, who
discussed the results of research undertaken to asc ertain the state of
documentation and awareness made publicly available by companies. A key
goal of the research and other activities taken by Webeto is to ensure that

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São Tomé e Príncipe does not become another example of the effects of the
resource curse. The role of civil society in ensuri ng this is important, but it
was emphasised that individuals and communities mus t feel empowered and
energised if they are to undertake the hard task of gaining the information that
will serve the public good.
In pursuit of this W ebeto surveyed four companies o perating in the blocks
awarded by the Joint Development Authority. In the case of one company,
Chevron, there was relatively good basic informatio n published, though this
was not the case in the three others. The lesson wa s however that sometimes
this information is out there when groups are adequ ately enabled to find it.
The importance of this was underlined by research u ndertaken with regards
to public access to information, where the main fin ding is that public access to
information is far from adequate. Despite the chall enges, a key message was
that transparent management of revenue is possible if everyone plays a role
in ensuring it happens.
Lulsegged Abebe, International Alert, London
Lulsegged Abebe of International Alert pointed out that unlike many other
African countries, particularly those affected by t he resource curse, São Tomé
e Príncipe has a democratic culture. International Alert has been actively
focussing on São Tomé for some years, and its emerg ing conclusions share
many of the conclusions of earlier speakers, in par ticular the powerful role
that civil society can play in attenuating some of the worst impacts.
International Alert targets civil society groups, l ocal media and
parliamentarians as part of this. The early detecti on of problems, the
establishment of structures and mechanisms to ensur e professional
management, and perhaps most important of all, a wi llingness on the part of
stakeholders from all sides to engage constructivel y, were identified as
essential components in promoting democratic govern ance.
Gisa Weszkalnys, Exeter University
Gisa Weszkalns of Exeter University responded by dr awing on the
experiences of some São Toméans, and emphasised the frustrated hopes of
many citizens when it came to the promised benefits oil would bring. Gisa
pointed out how much more interest there has been i n São Tomé since
countries such as Ghana have found oil and are look ing to the country as a
model for how they might frame relevant legislation . There has evolved an
‘economy of expectation’ as to how the country will benefit. New housing, a

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deep water sea port, a free trade zone – many new initiatives have begun on
the back of such expectations. These combine with r umours of corruption and
financial crime, and disappointments from those who have been expecting
new opportunities. Managing expectations is a clear lesson.
Session 2 – Lessons from Angola

Chair, Alex Vines, Chatham House
Lisa Misol, Human Rights Watch, New York
Diarmid O’Sullivan, Global Witness, London
Padre Belmiro Chissengueti, Angola Catholic Bishops ’ Conference
Justice and Peace Commission, Luanda
Nick Shaxson, Chatham House
Lisa Misol, Human Rights Watch, New York
Lisa Misol began by offering the main conclusions d rawn from work HRW has
been undertaking in Angola since 2000. The three pr incipal lessons are that
internal debate and external pressure can lead to s ignificant improvements in
transparency; but that secondly, these improvements in transparency are not
enough to improve human rights, and that third; it can be difficult to sustain
pressure for reform. Lisa expressed the view that t he Angolan government
has gradually increased transparency and instituted reforms over time, and
that there has been an important shift in public di scourse within Angola,
including a forceful condemnation of corruption by President dos Santos.
However Angola’s poorest have not benefited from re forms and transparency
is still limited. Lisa recommended that the IMF cou ld insist that Sonangol’s
audit be made public, and that additional data be m ade more available. More
could be done to encourage China to push for more t ransparency in Angola.
Efforts to increase public engagement were highligh ted as important, as was
a sustained focus on corruption and accountability, including using recent US
Senate investigations to push for criminal investig ations.

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Diarmid O’Sullivan, Global Witness, London
Diarmid O’Sullivan of Global Witness agreed with the previous points made
that transparency does not necessarily lead to acco untability, but emphasised
that it is an essential first step. He discussed An gola’s efforts to respond to
requests for greater transparency by showing the li mited use to which the
data released thus far could be put and the discrep ancies that were
highlighted by that data which was released. Whilst acknowledging that poor
quality and lack of data did not mean corruption, D iarmid emphasised that it
did leave questions regarding the use to which nati onal resources were being
put that public bodies acting on behalf of their ci tizens should be in a position
to answer if they were truly accountable. He also e choed earlier speakers in
saying that increasing publication of data is welco me but does not in itself
deliver accountability, particularly given the inco nsistencies and lack of detail
available at present.
Padre Belmiro Chissengueti, Angola Catholic Bishops ’ Conference Justice
and Peace Commission, Luanda

Padre Belmiro Chissengueti described the work that his organisation, the
Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace (CEJP) w as undertaking in
Angola, particularly its role in building the capac ity of civil society as part of an
Economic Justice Programme through research into oi l, diamonds, public
expenses, information sharing and networking. More research needs to be
undertaken by Angolans themselves rather than by fo reigners. Collaboration
with Partnership Africa Canada and the Internationa l Budget Partnership were
instrumental in this. CEJP’s work on transparency e choed that of previous
speakers, finding that there had been some improvem ent in transparency of
the oil sector and more openess by oil companies. H owever he pointed out
that in Luanda the space for debate is far greater than in most of the rest of
the country. The main reccomendations were that acc ess and desaggregation
of data needed to improve, and that there are chang es to the legal framework
required to promote the fuller disclosure of inform ation.
Nick Shaxson, Chatham House
Nick Shaxson reflected on the debate around how to influence change.
Angolan leaders feel that external interventions in Angola have often been
very counterproductive, and as a result are skeptic al of foreign interventions
including with regards to transparency and related issues. In combination with

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a weak civil society this can generate a real sense of frustration on the part of
those seeking to promote greater accountability. Ni ck proposed that the IMF
and the Catholic Church were two possible sources o f influence over the
Angolan Government, but alternatively indirect infl uence were perhaps more
likely to suceed.
Session 3 – Lessons from Nigeria

Chair , Paloma Cid, CWC Group, London
Nicholas Shaxson, Chatham House, London
Madeline Young, FRIDE, Madrid
Fr. Edward Osang Obi, Centre for Corporate and Soci al
Responsibility, Port Harcourt
Vanessa Herringshaw, Revenue Watch Institute, Londo n
Nicholas Shaxson, Chatham House, London
Nick Shaxson developed the theme he had addressed previously at Chatham
House regarding Nigeria’s history of engagement wit h the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). He offer ed a brief overview of the
history of EITI, making the point that the Nigerian EITI went far beyond the
requirements of the original EITI. There were many drivers of reform in
Nigeria’s oil sector, not least lessons from past d isasters, the international
pressure for transparency, President Obasanjo’s per sonal agenda, a strong
reform team and a debt rescheduling deal. However r eforms faltered as the
political situation in Nigeria deteriorated around President Obasanjo’s bid for
a third term and resistance within Nigeria to NEITI . There were also issues
relating to the clarity and consistency of the data that emerged. In conclusion,
EITI succeeded to the extent that it did in Nigeria because it occurred in the
context of pre-existing reform efforts elsewhere. I t complemented and
benefited from these efforts but did not drive them itself. The role of Nigerian
civil society in driving and engaging with NEITI wa s also very limited. NEITI
can claim some success in increasing transparency, but did not lead to better
governance or accountability, which should be the k ey tests of EITI and
similar initiatives.

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Madeline Young, FRIDE, Madrid
Madeline Young presented the findings from work undertaken for the Spanish
research institute FRIDE examining the impact of EI TI on Nigeria’s citizens, in
partnership with Civil Society Advocacy Centre and Intermón Oxfam.
Madeline explained some of the methodology of the p roject, and the reasons
why NEITI is important for Nigeria, particularly th e idea that NEITI represents
a contribution to a new culture of international ac countability, in which the role
of Nigerian civil society groups is particularly im portant. Madeline questioned
the ultimate purpose of NEITI beyond promoting tran sparency, suggesting
that its contribution to reducing poverty and incre asing human development
must be considered. NEITI has achieved a number of things, including
increased state tax revenue, better publication of payments and revenues,
streamlined Central bank data, increased civil soci ety engagement and
capacity and increased international support for Ci vil Society Groups. Yet
NEITI has also revealed massive shortcomings in Nig eria’s public
administration, has not impacted human development or poverty reduction
and has not lead to the prosecution of any signific ant corrupt officials or
companies. NEITI now risks being made redundant by emerging legislation.
In the mean time countries benefiting from the prod uction of Nigerian oil
which are also development assistance donors to Nig eria are not supporting
coherent development policies as their trade polici es undercut their
development policies. NEITI lacks a number of funda mental attributes that
would improve these shortcomings, including a lack of focus on local
community impact.
Father. Edward Osang Obi, Centre for Social and Cor porate Responsibility,
Port Harcourt
Fr. Obi, Director of the Centre for Social and Corp orate Responsibility
(CSCR), Port Harcourt, offered the results of the b aseline survey report his
organisation had carried out to understand the leve l of awareness, attitudes
and behaviour on issues relating to governance and corporate transparency
of the oil sector. Nigerian State government, local civil society and the
representatives from two oil companies, Shell and C hevron Nigeria, had been
questioned, and the results were surprising both in the low level of awareness
of many issues relating to budgetary and corporate social responsibility
issues amongst all participants, but also the low l evel of support for popular
involvement in such issues amongst even civil socie ty participants. In Father
Obi’s opinion this represented a real sense of dise mpowerment at many
levels, though there were some areas that offered h opeful signs, such as the
relatively high level of support for community invo lvement in CSR in oil

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company field staff, though less awareness of what their own CSR guidelines
were, whilst staff in company headquarters had a hi gh awareness of
procedures, but less support for popular involvemen t in their formulation.
Therefore a key recommendation of the work undertak en by CSCR was that
HQ and field staff should share knowledge and exper ience more freely, and
to encourage greater interaction between staff and local communities
whenever possible. On the legislative side there we re recommendations for a
number of measures to increase community participat ion in budgetary
processes, as well as recommendations for a number of legislative reforms,
including the enactment of a Fiscal Responsibilitie s Act and Freedom of
Information Act. However, Fr. Obi expressed the vie w that whilst local
activism was critical in promoting greater transpar ency and accountability,
international pressure was equally important, and u rged further efforts from
outside and from within Nigeria to move the reform agenda on.
Vanessa Herringshaw, Revenue Watch Institute, Londo n
Vanessa Herringshaw, of the Revenue Watch Institute , offered some
responses, introducing the work of Revenue W atch an d then examining the
interactions between various developments at local, national and international
level that might impact on accountability and trans parency over resources in
Nigeria. At a national level the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was
highlighted as a measure that may have several posi tive impacts, including
the break up of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cor poration (NNPC), but
there were also concerns at the degree of power tha t the Act would give the
Minister, it was unclear where revenue would flow i n some cases, and the key
test of the success or otherwise of the Bill would come in implementation. So
in Nigeria at national level PIB is in progress, NE ITI is in crisis, and the
parliamentary and presidential elections in 2011 wi ll represent a key test.
At a sub national level the basic problem is the br eakdown of the relationship
between individuals and society. Capacity, informat ion, engagement
mechanisms are all lacking but the key one is impun ity, and this needs
greater emphasis. Greatest engagement is probably p ossible at the local
state level. The Bayelsa Expenditure and Income Tra nsparency Initiative is
probably the one of the most hopeful initiatives to date. It borrows the best
bits from NEITI but links income to expenditure. It may be replicated in other
states. Another initiative is being undertaken by t he Niger Delta Citizens
Budget Platform (NDCBP) and the Bayelsa NGOs Forum (BANGOF) which
are seeking greater accountability through a series of town hall meetings

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examining particular State initiatives and budgetary mechanisms and the
consequent publishing of reports. These are attract ing local politicians, but
are not without risk and some report writers have b een threatened or
attacked. These are good examples of how important it is to focus on the
local level.
At the international level the new US Dodd-Frank Ac t requires all US listed
companies to publish all payments to governments on a country by country
and project by project basis. This will all be publ ished online, so that
Nigerians (and others) will be able to see what a l arge number (not all) of
companies are paying to the Nigerian government for what. The US is now
calling on others to implement similar laws. This w ill be an annual report and
will be mandatory. A new International Accounting S tandard (IAS) would have
an even bigger impact. Currently 110 countries requ ire or allow this standard,
whilst a number of others, including China, Brazil, India and others are on
paths of ‘convergence’. Others are on convergence b ut with no clear
timeframe including the US, Japan, Indonesia and Ru ssia. New Extractives
Standards for international accounting are on the a genda and would also
have a significant positive impact potentially.

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Session 4 – Voluntary Initiatives and Oil Governanc e

Chair: Thalia Griffiths, African Energy, Hastings
Eddie Rich, EITI Secretariat, Oslo
Joseph Williams, Publish What You Pay, London
Jean-François Lassalle, Total, Paris
Discussant: Ian Gary, Oxfam America, Washington DC
Eddie Rich, EITI Secretariat, Oslo
Eddie gave his talk about the key features of EITI and the first lessons learnt
from this relatively new initiative. Following the previous day’s discussion, he
started with highlighting three points. Firstly, tr ansparency does not
necessarily lead to greater accountability. The tas k is not only to produce
results but also to discuss them. Secondly, EITI is not a panacea and it is not
the answer to corruption in countries such as Angol a or Nigeria. It is a first
necessary step but it has to be part of an iterativ e process. Thirdly, EITI is not
necessarily voluntary in the classical sense.
EITI works as independent verification mechanism of tax and royalty
payments. Companies disclose what they pay to gover nments and
governments disclose the receipt of payments. A mul ti-stakeholder group
then produces the output in form of data and report s and discusses the
results. In so doing, EITI becomes a platform for d ialogue and discussion. It
has a relatively limited task but with the potentia l to have a much wider reach.
There are currently 31 countries in the EITI and th at means that there are
also 31 different models of EITI. However, EITI alw ays contains four key
features: country ownership, a multi-stakeholder fo cus, the disclosure of
company payments and government receipts as well as validation.
EITI is not just a secretariat or a board, it is a movement towards
transparency. It produces two key figures, which ha s not been available
before: How much money is coming into the country a nd the difference
between the amounts declared from government and co mpany. By now,
almost 50 EITI reports have been published internat ionally and worldwide
almost half a billion people have access to reliabl e revenue figures for the first

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time. But the dialogue, which has been started, is clearly more important than
the data.
There are some lessons learnt so far from the initi ative. 31 countries mean 31
different processes and also 31 different reasons w hy countries have started
the EITI process. The only common outcome is that t rust has been built in a
sector where mistrust has been endemic. The initiat ive has also empowered
civil society and communities. Other outcomes inclu de capacity building,
creating a better understanding of the extractive s ector and fostering a more
stable and attractive investment climate.
Eddie emphasized that this is not a simple process and that EITI is not going
to solve the problem of the whole sector. EITI de-l isted Equatorial Guinea and
São Tomé and Príncipe. This was a difficult decisio n for EITI but one that
provided momentum to the countries which are still adhering to it. He finished
with a quotation of UK academic Paul Collier saying “EITI is definitely the right
place to start and the wrong place to finish”.
Joseph Williams, Publish What You Pay, London
The key message of Joseph Williams was that it is e ssential to talk not just
about ‘voluntary’ EITI versus international regulat ions but rather about EITI,
voluntary initiatives and international regulations . Publish What You Pay
(PW YP) supports initiatives like EITI which create dynamic processes and
which are led at the country level. PW YP was starte d in 2002 by six UK
based organisation and now includes over 600 organi sations in 55 countries.
Its key aim is to campaign for transparency and acc ountability in extractive
industries with a focus on oil, gas and mining. PWY P supports voluntary
measures as a first step and then encourages the us e of mandatory
mechanisms.
In Joseph’s point of view, EITI has three strengths : It builds trust amongst
stakeholders. It is a unique forum that allows civi l society often
unprecedented access to engage in policy with corpo rate and government
decision-makers. Finally, it can lead to laws at th e national level, which moves
EITI away from the voluntary level and gives the in itiative teeth.
There currently is a global momentum for transparen cy and EITI has often
been ‘the only game in town’. However, it did not w ork in São Tomé and
Príncipe, a country that might not have been ready enough, and also not in
Equatorial Guinea. Angola is not a member of it, al though it was Angola’s

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situation which originally prompted the initiative. Finally, Nigeria also shows
flagging commitment for EITI since 2006.
It is important that the EITI and international reg ulations provide genuinely
and timely disclosure on an annual basis. Data shou ld be available on a
disaggregated level (on a country and on a company basis). They should be
easily searchable and comparable. Furthermore, info rmation is needed on
reserves, production volumes, production revenues a nd costs.
Joseph concluded that whilst initiatives such as EI TI are very important, there
is a lot industrialized countries could do to impro ve transparency through
regulation. This includes listings, International A ccounting Standards, fighting
tax havens and due diligence on capital flight.
Jean-François Lassalle, Vice President of Public Af fairs for France and
NGOS at Total, Paris

Jean-François Lassalle spoke about EITI and the new US government Act
from an oil company perspective. He stated that Tot al has been heavily
involved in the setting up of EITI. It was present at the initial conference in
London and supported many countries to participate in EITI. The company
additionally started other initiatives such as crea ting a dedicated website
disclosing on what taxes Total is paying in differe nt countries. Total provides
members for the board of EITI and holds regular mee tings with NGOs about
this topic.
Jean-François gave a summary of the advantages of E ITI for oil companies
such as Total, for implementing countries and for t heir civil societies. For
Total, EITI is a win-win situation. The initiative motivates policy progress
towards better governance and creates more transpar ency. It provides the
company with better reputation higher staff satisfa ction, improved shareholder
relationship and market confidence as well as a bet ter risk management. All
these issues are crucial for a successful, long-ter m investment of oil
companies. EITI has various advantages for implemen ting countries. It
increases the countries’ investment attractiveness and their opportunities to
access foreign capital. It enhances accountability and stability for public
finance. In a wider sense, countries adhering to EI TI will be more trusted by
financial institutions and will achieve greater pol itical integrity. Last but not
least, EITI empowers civil society and helps to rai se awareness. It supports
the relationship of civil society with the private sector and helps to strengthen

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the relationships with their investors. Overall, it gives NGOs in African
countries a legitimacy, which has not existed befor e.
Having shown EITI’s general advantages, Jean-Franço is Lassalle then
moved on to discuss the reasons why Total prefers E ITI over the new US Law
on Extractive Industries Payment Disclosure. In his opinion, this Act has the
following drawbacks:
· it only includes US Securities and Exchange Commis sion (SEC)
registered companies;
· it has an unilateral origin that does not take int o account other state’s
sovereignty (e.g. a US company might have to disclo se its payments
according to the bill to an African country but thi s might be forbidden
in the oil producing country itself);
· it creates a competitive distortion between SEC an d non-SEC
countries as the former are forced to play with ope n cards whilst the
latter do not have to disclose their payments);
· it only includes payments made by companies rather than comparing
it with the payments received by the governments;
· it is US legislation and therefore not a country o wned process.
Ian Gary, Senior Policy Manager for Extractive Indu stries for Oxfam America,
Washington DC
Ian Gary, Senior Policy Manager for Extractive Indu stries for Oxfam America,
presented a different opinion about the US Law on E xtractive Industries
Payment Disclosure. President Obama signed the so-c alled ‘Lugar-Cardin’
Provision in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 into law on June 21. Contrary to
what opponents of the bill claim, it has emerged fr om a long process started
in 2006, which included multiple hearings and oppor tunities for industry input.
In the end, it received full White House backing an d can be seen as victory for
the PW YP US coalition. Its core content is that all US-listed/registered
extractive industry (EI) companies must disclose pa yments to governments in
SEC filings starting in 2012/13. This is required o n a country-by-country and
project-by-project base, in a yearly process and br oken out by payment
streams. Companies have to report in all countries they are active in and not
only in those which have agreed to cooperate as und er the EITI.
The new Act is a major milestone for promoting EI t ransparency. It covers
around 90% of internationally operating oil compani es and has gained
widespread company and investor support. The SEC ru le-making process
now has to undertake further work to clarify the Ac t until the deadline on April
17, 2011.

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Ian Gary stated that the new law is a tool to empow er civil society
organisations in EI dependent developing countries, as the disclosure will not
depend on the host government’s political will. Mos t companies involved in
current exploration in São Tomé e Príncipe and Nig eria will fall under the
new law. Moreover all major new projects in Angola, which at the moment is
only disclosing some information about payments but is not part of the EITI,
will be covered.
The law might also be the catalyst for other initia tives. The International
Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is considering a rule change to make
disclosure of payments to governments a standard in the 110 countries,
which use IASB rules. Further stock exchanges such as in Hong Kong or the
UK are considering new listing requirements. The la w might also affect
legislation transparency in EI countries such as Ni geria and Liberia
(transparency laws) and Ghana (Ghana Revenue Manage ment Bill pending).
The new law and EITI are complementary and all part of a package of
measures needed. However, Ian Gary pointed out that the future of the EITI
would crucially depend on its next board meeting in October. The last
validation deadline in March 2010 was only met by 2 of 22 countries and 18
out of 20 received an extension. In his opinion, pr ogress on transparency
must be accompanied by respect for human rights and there has been a gap
between EITI and human rights practice. There need to be safeguards for civil
society organizations within and outside the formal EITI process.
Q&A Session:
Q: Are the new oil fields in the Albertine Rift bet ween Uganda and Congo
covered by EITI? The people in this region are deep ly concerned about
suffering from a ‘resource curse’. What can you rec ommend them to do to
avoid what has happened to most other African count ries after they started oil
exploration?
Q: What is missing in this conference is a real dis cussion on the impact of oil
on communities. There is such a big imbalance of po wer and not enough
African civil society groups to address this issue.
Q: If South Sudan will vote for independence, will it be signing the EITI?
Q: There is a big concern about assets and flight o f capital in the extractive
industry. W hat is done to monitor this issue? There has been much talk about
the tax foreign companies have to pay but what abou t the money?

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A : EITI does not apply for the part of the Congo in the Albertine Rift region
and Uganda is not a signatory of EITI at the moment . The amount of
commercially viable oil confirmed on the Ugandan si de has made oil a big
issue for the country. The two major international companies involved in the
exploration of Uganda’s oil fields are Tullow Oil a nd Heritage Oil PLC, which
are listed on the London Stock Exchange and therefo re would not fall under
the new US law. The topic of capital flight is an i mportant one and PW YP is
aware that there is a need to link up with the tax registration movement.
A : EITI does not cover the region in Congo and Uga nda at the moment but it
is planned to cover the Congo part within the next few years and there are
intense discussions taking place in Uganda. However , more important than
being covered today is to make sure that the Albert ine rift region is covered
when production starts in a couple of years. Regard ing South Sudan,
discussions at the moment are not about joining the EITI as it first need to
achieve its sovereignty but rather about awareness building.
A: It is important to note that Uganda is working t hrough an Oil Revenue
Management Bill at the moment. In addition, Tullow Oil declared that it is
willing to include Uganda in EITI if the country is willing to agree. For the tax
havens, there is an organization in Washington call ed Global Financial
Integrity which is strongly engaged in this topic.
A: One question that is left to address is the weak ness of civil society in these
countries and that is a fact. It is an issue about profitable versus non-
profitable business but also an issue about capacit y. Total works with the
French part of PW YP to strengthen civil society’s p osition its operating
countries to help them strengthen their position by providing knowledge, e.g.
about contracts in the oil industry. Total is the o nly W estern company
currently present in South Sudan but there is no ac tive production or other
activities at the moment.
Q: In the first EITI report there was suspiciously little discrepancy between the
numbers reported from companies and countries in Ni geria. Does this tell you
that you are looking at the wrong figures?
Q: Does the new law cover private sellers?
Q: Even after the payments are disclosed there is n o guarantee that life will
improve for the people in Africa. How can this be e nsured?
Q: The BP leak in the Gulf of Mexico showed the dan gers of oil production.
There has to be a democratization of Africa’s envir onment in regions such as

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the Niger Delta. What can be done to make sure companies work responsibly
and clean up their acts?
A: There should not be so much tension between EITI and international
regulations; they should both complement each other . In the case of Nigeria,
it will be very interesting to see when new figures come out from SEC and
EITI.
A: The Nigeria report in question showing only litt le discrepancy was from
2005. The latest NEITI report shows differences of about US$ 5 billion. This
gives room to a whole set of issues which have to b e discussed.
Unfortunately, civil society in Nigeria was much mo re focused on discussing
its representation in the multi-stakeholder group t han finding the reasons for
this discrepancy. EITI is not there to expose corru ption; it is there to limit it.
A: In fact, the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico put oil companies in a weak
position at the end of the US legislation process. There is a need for more
environmental impact assessment and new development s in the sector
should be reflected in its institutions. A similar accident to the one in the Gulf
of Mexico would put most oil producing African stat es in a very difficult
position, as they do not have the money of the US t o deal with such an
accident.
A: It is important to empower the people in the cou ntry and local content is
key to it. Companies should give as much work as po ssible to local
contractors. This is an issue where Western and Asi an companies differ
significantly.
Q: Very little has been said about production. Prod uction is a big problem with
companies producing more than they declaring. W ho d o you believe? The
companies or the governments? Why do you not bring members of African
governments into the EITI board?
Q: What concerns do oil companies have for doing bu siness amongst such
volatile regimes as Uganda in such a trouble contin ent?
Q: Could you elaborate on the role of institutional investors in EITI?
Q: What is Total doing now about the new US law? Ar e you planning to lobby
against it?
A: Oil companies often differ from the governments in African countries in
their approach. They want to develop a well slowly to get as much out of it as
possible in the long run. Governments often have a tendency for fast
depletion. Oil exploration and production in countr ies such as Uganda are

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challenging from a political and often also from a technical perspective. Total
is present in challenging countries such Burma or S udan but is trying to work
as efficiently as possible to transform these count ries from inside. There is
comprehensive documentation about this on Total’s w ebsite.
A: Production really is a key issue. EITI only cove rs the financial side and it is
symptomatic that in a country like Nigeria the tota l oil production can still not
be determined. However, this is not such a big issu e in other countries. One
third of the board members of EITI are indeed from implementing countries.
Institutional investors have specific timeframes an d EITI currently has more
than 80 institutional investors.
A: There has to be more work on international accou nting standards but
production really is very important. The US law is passed now and there is
limited flexibility how it can be changed. The law received significant attention
in the EU. Companies covered under the SEC should t ry to promote similar
laws in other regions such as EU or China.
A: The effect of the law on EU is not the problem, it is more the distortion it
can create towards Indian, Chinese and Russian comp anies.
Conclusion
Nick Shaxson, Chatham House
Nicholas Shaxson concluded that the issue of transp arency had been the
overwhelming focus of the conference. He drew some key questions from the
discussion:
· Does transparency deliver justice for poor countrie s dealing with
rich oil companies?
· Has transparency led to better accountability, allo wing citizens of
mineral-rich countries the political power to have their voices
heard by their governments?
· Has transparency led to better development outcomes in terms of
curbing poverty or encouraging human rights?

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· Does transparency deliver justice? In this situatio n, justice means
between poor countries and rich oil companies. Thi s matter was
only touched on during the conference.
· Has transparency led to better accountability? Have citizens of
mineral-rich countries been able to get their gover nments to hear
their voice? This is a question of political power .
· Has transparency led to better development outcomes ? Has it
curbed poverty or encouraged human rights?
Nick argued that it is often assumed, but not neces sarily true, that the
achievement of one of these factors would naturally lead on to the next.
The power relationship between citizens, the govern ment and oil companies
was described as triangular. Although oil companies were in the strongest
position (at the top of the triangle) before the 19 70s, since the formation of
OPEC the triangle has shifted and African and Middl e Eastern oil-producing
countries now wield most power. The portrayal of o il companies as large
powerful entities is inaccurate, as the governments of larger African oil-
producers, especially Angola and Nigeria, can inspi re fear in oil executives.
Nick said that the overriding theme of the conferen ce had to be finding a way
to put citizens at the top of the power triangle.
Examples from the conference’s presentations were t hen drawn. They
included a lack of political will to improve; a lac k of vibrancy in civil society;
and a lack of focus on holding authorities accounta ble for missing billions of
dollars. In accumulation, they illustrated the poi nt that the outcomes of recent
transparency initiatives have been lacklustre.
Nick argued that the question is whether initiative s to promote transparency
have any real influence or barely affect the bounda ries of presidential palaces
and oil company boardrooms – where real decisions a re being made.
He went on to say that some reports which are relea sed by initiatives
maintain that the discourse needs to be changed, th at new areas of
engagement are needed, and so essential conclude th at governments should
tackle corruption by being less corrupt – a circula r argument.
Despite the negatives, a number of points which sho w areas of progress were
identified. Nick pointed out that Victoria Herring shaw said that initiatives tend
to find more traction at sub-national level than na tional level. This was the
situation in Angola. Local monitoring exercises (fo r example, seeing if a

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school has been built where promised) can be effective, but there is a need to
see whether there is an over-focus on oil revenue, which is detracting from
any evaluation of expenditure.
It was described as extremely positive to see the U S taking leadership with
the Frank-Dodd Act. An over-focus on EITI has detra cted from other
approaches, but the Frank-Dodd Act was seen to have provided a more
mandatory approach. EITI is not mandatory globally .
Nick highlighted Lisa Misol’s presentation, which e mphasised the receptivity
of governments to outside pressure. They need outs ide financing, and the
IMF can be a main vector for influence to be inject ed into countries, rather
than initiative representatives trying to make dire ct recommendations to
countries.
It was argued that transparency is clearly positive in itself, but is not a
panacea. It is a first step, and decisive moves ne ed to be made to establish
what the next focus should be. The idea of local c ontent is good but needs to
be accompanied by more engagement – any move forwar d needs to be into
an area that people can really engage in.
There are other approaches which were not discussed during the conference.
· The political approach: what proportion of revenue from each
barrel of oil is going to the government? Citizens of oil-producing
countries would take great interest in this, but ci vil society
organisations are not yet looking at the issue part ly because it is
difficult to find figures. The onus is on the oil companies and
governments to explain their contracts. There has never been a
systematic effort to make this happen.
· Tax havens are a huge issue, and is the next area w here
cooperation is needed with transparency organisatio ns. The UK
is one of the major destinations for those seeking a tax haven.
Although the idea of combating London’s status as a tax haven is
often dismissed as too difficult, there is scope fo r British civil
society organisations to coalesce around a new move ment and
create a new transparency campaign.
· The question of directly distributing oil revenue t o citizens on an
individual basis: this issue had previously been ra ised by Nick.
Opponents to the idea see it as an extremist neo-li beral ‘tea
party’ style movement. Whilst if enacted, this ide a would involve

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a radical relocation of wealth from the rich to the poor, such
opponents fail to understand that economic systems and political
relations in many African oil-producers are differe nt to those in
the West. Nick maintained that the redistribution idea could not
be rejected seriously.
· Taxation: this is an area where the civil society i s not significantly
engaged with citizens. Significant work is needed to encourage
transparency of taxation not just for the extractiv e industries but
also in other economic sectors. Currently, the Wor ld Bank
recommends that civil society needs to do more work on this.
Discussion
The discussion began with an insight into the way that de-listing from EITI has
affected São Tomé. Carla Vieira argued that citize ns were never really part of
the EITI, and that the country’s main agenda was en suring that a long-term
government be established. She questioned why STP joined the EITI, as it is
not a country which produces oil, and lamented the lost opportunity to provide
training and practice for STP’s people.
Good governance in the oil sector was then commente d on. A previous
Chatham House conference had brought together techn ocrats from nineteen
oil-producing countries, representing 67 percent of the world’s known oil
resources. They agreed on the following five princi ples of good governance:
1. Clarity of goals, roles and responsibilities: le aders need to agree on
the role of oil in the development of the country. There should be
clear demarcation between the roles of the main pet roleum
corporation, the Ministry for Oil and the Parliamen t;
2. Sustainability for future populations: where is the revenue from oil
going? How best can the environment be protected? The Gulf of
Mexico and the Niger Delta represent areas where re gulatory failure
has happened, and so both demonstrate a failure of the system of
governance and are not just the fault of the oil co mpany;
3. Accountability: although all agreed on this, the re was a wide variety of
opinion on what accountability actually constitutes ;
4. Transparency of information: people cannot be he ld to account if they
have not been allowed access to all of the informat ion;

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5. Enabled institutions: Can bodies carry out the work which they have
been assigned?
The commenter worried that if the US could not put in place effective
management structure, leading to the Gulf of Mexico spill, Ghana was likely to
be unable to too.
It was suggested that moving the conversation on pa st transparency would
require civil society becoming financially invested in oil companies. This
would allow money to reach parts of society it othe rwise would not. The
commenter gave the example of Nigeria, where citize ns in the north disagree
with those in the Niger Delta on whether all Nigeri ans, or just those in the
Delta, should gain financially from the oil. The p roblem is exacerbated by the
fact that government-run institutions are the most profitable. Citizens do not
have pensions.
It was argued that civil society in Nigeria can onl y ever be a talking shop, as
organisations from different regions have different goals. People can only be
brought together by the promise of a financial ince ntive – not everyone in the
same country will have the same objectives.
It was asked what would happen with the EITI if all of the eighteen countries
currently with extensions defaulted.
Eddie Rich answered that these were questions which had been considered
by the EITI board, but its major concern was always ‘Is there a meaningful
process going on in each country?’ EITI initiative s are country-led processes,
and EITI’s central organisation only observes that its rules have been
complied with.
It was also recognised that EITI is a young process . The board decided that if
eighteen out of twenty countries could not comply w ith its regulations, then
there must be something wrong with the rules. Qual ity assurance did take six
to nine months, which was a large part of the two y ear deadline and so
extensions were given.
STP and Equatorial Guinea were delisted for not fol lowing the substance of
EITI. In STP, initial interest had dropped off, ne cessary reports were not
produced and when the government asked for an exten sion, the EITI board
thought it was too late. Equatorial Guinea has a s imilar oil and gas profile to
Norway, but Norway gets twenty times as much revenu e from its oil and gas.
Equatorial Guinea is sitting on significant reserve s of unused oil, and a
discussion is needed around this.

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The point was made that delisting could benefit the delisted government and
cause more suffering to the citizens. Eddie respond ed that delisting is
essentially a self-sanction and there would be no i nternational consequences,
unless organisations such as the IMF had placed con ditionality on a country
being a member of EITI.
The issue of human development was raised. It was argued that without
development there are wider security issues, increa sed dependence on aid
and increased immigration, and so it must be encour aged.
The next commenter asked what the role of parliamen ts is in Africa’s oil
relations. She recommended that the next conferenc e be focused on
governance, and Presidents and those signing oil co ntracts be invited to
speak.
It was pointed out that all of the presentations ha d started with the
assumption that there is a free civil society, but in cases where the
government is more controlling, people will not hav e the permission to
develop civil society. Such governments would also be reluctant to submit to
the influence of any civil society organisation.
Nicholas Shaxson then asked the audience whether an yone believed that the
triangular relationship between oil companies, gove rnments and citizens had
been fundamentally changed. He offered his opinion that the answer from the
conference seemed to be an unequivocal no. He aske d whether any other
initiatives had been effective or had more potentia l than EITI, and reasserted
the idea that redistribution of wealth on an indivi dual basis holds the most
promise for putting citizens in the best position.
Ian Gary responded that Ghana provided a promising country-specific
example of a situation where the power balance had changed for the better,
though whether this can last is still to be seen.

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Speaker Biographies
Lulsegged Abebe is the Manager of the West Africa programme at
International Alert, a peacebuilding charity based in London. Lulsegged is a
researcher, trainer and practitioner on peacebuildi ng with extensive
experience in reconciliation, conflict analysis, ea rly warning and negotiation.
He has a PhD in conflict Analysis and Resolution fr om George Mason
University, Virginia.
Fr Belmiro Chissengueti is a Roman Catholic priest working at two different
parishes in the city of Luanda. He is an ordained member of the Spiritan
Congregation, a Roman Catholic Religious Congregati on which was founded
in France in 1703 and is dedicated to serving the p oor. He is also the
General Secretary of the CEJP and was invited as a consulting expert for the
African Synod at the Vatican last year. Fr Belmiro holds a degree in Law from
the Catholic University of Angola.
Paloma Cid is a senior executive at CWC Group. She is respon sible for
programme development and government relations in t he West Africa region,
particularly Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Angola. She has managed
numerous major projects to promote investment in oi l and gas, sustainable
development and social progress. Prior to joining C WC Group, Paloma
worked first with IBM and subsequently managed a tw o year programme of
cultural activities with the Spanish embassy. Pal oma holds a degree in
Economics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid a nd a Post-graduate
Certificate in International Trade from the Centro de Estudios Comerciales.
Ian Gary is Senior Policy Manager for Extractive Industries with Oxfam
America. Prior to joining Oxfam, Ian was Strategic Issues Advisor on
Extractive Industries at Catholic Relief Services ( CRS). He has held positions
with the Ford Foundation as well as international d evelopment organizations
in the US and Africa. Ian has been a frequent comm entator on extractive
industries issues in major media outlets including the New York Times,
Washington Post, Financial Times, BBC and NPR. He was an advisor with
the W orld Bank Extractive Industries Advisory Group from 2005-2009 and
was a leading advocate in the Publish W hat You Pay US effort. Ian has
conducted field research on extractive industries i ssues in several African
Countries and he is the author of the Oxfam America report Ghana’s Big Test:
Oil’s Challenge to Democratic Development and co-author of the CRS report
Bottom of the Barrel: Africa’s Oil Boom and the Poo r and Chad’s Oil: Miracle
or Mirage?

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Thalia Griffiths is the news editor of African Energy. She has work ed with
African Energy since its launch in 1998, focusing o n the politics and
economics of West and Central Africa and other Afri ca-related projects.
Thalia is a former deputy editor of London-based n ewsletter Africa
Confidential, and has travelled extensively for ten years as a correspondent of
Reuters news agency. She joined Reuters after leavi ng Oxford University,
where she studied French and German, and her time w ith the company
included three years based in the West Africa burea u in Cote d’Ivoire, plus
spells in Cyprus (on the Middle East desk) and Bulg aria. She still travels
regularly to Africa, including recent assignments f or African Energy to Chad,
Senegal and Uganda, amongst other countries.
Vanessa Herringshaw is head of the Revenue Watch Institute’s London
office. She also represents RWI in Europe and lead s its program on training
and capacity building globally. A key theme in Van essa’s work has been
strengthening accountability and governance in area s like health services,
children’s rights and poverty reduction. For the la st 10 years she has
focussed on economic justice and corporate transpar ency, especially the
impacts of oil, gas and mining in less developed co untries. Vanessa also
spearheads the initiative on accounting standards r eform in the extractive
sector for the international Publish W hat You Pay c oalition. Prior to joining
Revenue W atch, Vanessa headed the Economic Policy U nit at Save the
Children UK. She holds a Master’s degree from the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a Bachelors degree f rom Cambridge and was
a Frank Knox Scholar to Harvard University and the Kennedy School of
Government.
Jean-François Lassalle is Vice President of Public Affairs for France and
NGOS at Total. He has responsibility for managing r eputation issues, such as
those related to the Group’s presence in complex en vironments, as well as all
Corporate Social Responsibility issues, including E ITI. Through his previous
experience, Jean-François has developed a good unde rstanding of
development issues, in particular in sub-Saharan as well as in North Africa
where he held several managerial positions between 1990 and 2002. He was
the representative for Elf on the Board of the Fren ch Investors’ Committee for
Africa (CIAN). His former position for 6 years as a n all contract negotiator
gave him an awareness of governments’ expectations regarding the impacts
of hydrocarbon resources on development.
Lisa Misol is a Senior Researcher in Human Rights Watch’s Busi ness and
Human Rights Program. She has carried out field inv estigations in about a
dozen countries for HRW and written reports on a va riety of topics including

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on political violence in Kenya, arms trafficking in West Africa, military
businesses in Indonesia, extractive industries in B urma, and global patterns
of human rights abuses implicating companies. Lisa also engages in
extensive international advocacy, including follow- up to Human Rights
Watch’s research on oil, corruption, and human righ ts in Angola and
Equatorial Guinea. She is a dual national of Spain and the United States and
holds a master’s degree in public and international affairs from the Woodrow
Wilson School at Princeton University.
Father Edward Osang Obi is a Roman Catholic priest of the Missionary
Society of St. Paul, in Nigeria and Director of the Centre for Social and
Corporate Responsibility. He completed his initial academic training in
Nigeria, and served as a Missionary in Botswana and South Africa for nine
years before returning to work in Abuja, Nigeria. F r Edward specialized in
Social Ethics, with particular emphasis on Corporat e Social Responsibility in
the Niger Delta. His doctoral dissertation, which w as completed at the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Belgium, defende d a notion of participatory
ownership that could create the context for oil res ources to be owned
inclusively rather than exclusively, and be managed conjointly, by the
government, oil corporations and the people on whos e land they occur.
Diarmid O’Sullivan is the leader of the Global W itness campaign worki ng to
curb corruption in the oil, gas and mining industri es. He has been a
campaigner for Global Witness for seven years and i s currently an alternate
Board member of the Extractive Industries Transpare ncy Initiative. Previously,
Diarmid worked as an analyst for the International Crisis Group in Indonesia
and as a journalist based in London, the Middle Eas t and Southeast Asia. He
has a BA degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studie s.
Patrick Raleigh is the analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
covering São Tomé e Príncipe. Prior to joining the Africa team, Patrick
worked as a Sub-Editor on the Asia team at the EIU. He has also worked at
Routledge as an Assistant Editor of the Europa Worl d Year Book and Europa
Regional Surveys. He has a BA in Modern Languages f rom the University of
Bristol and a Diploma in Economics from Birkbeck Co llege, University of
London. He is currently studying part-time towards an MSc in Development
Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studi es (SOAS), University of
London.
Eddie Rich has worked in development for over 14 years. From 1 996-98 he
was the DFID representative to Angola. He was Head of DFID’s Corporate
Social Responsibility team when the nascent Publish What You Pay coalition

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came to DFID with the idea for a transparency initiative for the extractive
sector in 2001. He continued to work on the Extract ive Industries
Transparency Initiative until 2004 when he moved to Kenya as Deputy Head
of DFID Kenya. W hen Kenya started exploring for de ep sea oil in 2006/7, he
re-entered the EITI debate.
Nicholas Shaxson is an Associate Fellow of the Africa programme at
Chatham House, and the author of Poisoned Wells: the dirty politics of African
oil (2007) . Previously a Reuters correspondent in Luanda, he wa s author of
the Economist Intelligence Unit reports on Angola f rom 1997-2009 and has
written on West African oil-rich countries for nume rous publications including
the Financial Times, Africa Confidential, African Energ y, Oxford Analytica and
various others. He is currently working on a book o n tax havens, to be called
Treasure Islands, which will be published by Random House in 2011.
Carla Sardinha Vieira is the President of W ebeto, an international NGO w ith
particular focus on transparency in the management of natural resources of
São Tomé e Príncipe. Since 2003 she has worked with diasporas focusing on
civil society issues. Carla has participated in nu merous international training
sessions and conferences on development issues, par ticularly in Sub-
Saharan Africa, including in São Tomé e Príncipe, N igeria, Angola and South
Africa.

Alex Vines has been head of the Africa Programme at Chatham H ouse since
2002 and in 2008 became Director of Regional and Se curity Studies. Alex
first joined Chatham House as an Associate fellow f or the British Angola
Forum in 1999 and he has written extensively on Lus ophone Africa. From
2005 to 2007 Alex was a member, and later Chair, of the UN Group of
Experts on Côte d’Ivoire and served from 2001-2003 on the UN Panel of
Experts on Liberia. Alex has had a long association with Human Rights Watch
and served as their senior researcher and more rece ntly as consultant on
Business and Human Rights. He is the principal auth or of the recently
published report An Uncertain Future: Oil Contracts and Stalled Refo rm in
São Tomé e Príncipe . He serves on the editorial board of several leadi ng
journals and writes regularly for publications arou nd the world. Alex was
awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours 2008 in recognition of his
work on Africa and is a part-time lecturer at the D epartment of International
Studies and Social Science, Coventry University.
Gisa Weszkalnys is a social anthropologist whose current research e xplores
processes of natural resource developments in São T omé e Príncipe. She is
a Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Exe ter and a Research

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Associate of the African Studies Centre, Oxford. Sh e also works as an
independent consultant and has conducted studies of perceptions of natural
resources, agricultural projects, and human develop ment in STP and Angola.
She was trained at Cambridge University and has wor ked at Goldsmiths,
London, and the University of Oxford. She has publi shed widely in peer-
reviewed journals and is the author of Berlin, Alexanderplatz: Transforming
Place in a Unified Germany (Berghahn, 2010).
Joseph Williams is Information and Advocacy Officer for Publish W h at You
Pay. Prior to joining PW YP in January 2009, he wor ked at the International
Crisis Group on its Central Africa Project where he became acquainted with
the clear need for better governance and greater ac countability in the
extractive industries. He then moved to China wher e he was writing for
London-based newspaper Africa-Asia Confidential on relations between
China and Africa. Joseph’s previous experience incl udes research, project
management and advocacy work in Brussels where he w orked for various EU
institutions including the European Parliament. He holds a Master of Arts in
European Studies from the University of Exeter and a Master of Science in
Development Management from the Open University.
Madeline Young is a research consultant for the FRIDE Foundation,
specializing in governance, human development, and natural resource
management in Africa. She has previously worked wit h Intermon Oxfam and
Chatham House for publications covering fisheries m anagement, extractive
industries transparency, civil society advocacy, an d international development
policy. She was recently appointed to the advisory committee of ‘Forum pour
une autre Afrique’.