Editorial: Improving transparency, accountability in extractives

Public access to information remains critical to building confidence in managing the nation’s extractive resources.

Hence, the Executive Director-Centre for Extractives and Development Africa (CEDA), Samuel Bekoe, has called for greater transparency and proactive disclosure in managing the country’s mineral revenues.

At a workshop in Accra on improving transparency and accountability of the Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF), he observed that while Ghana has made progress in managing revenues from the extractive sector, gaps remain in the disclosure of information relating to mineral income and investments.

Institutions responsible for managing mineral income should adopt more open reporting practices, including regular publication of financial statements, investment performance and details of how funds generated from the sector are utilised.

He cited the instance that while petroleum revenues are monitored by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), there is no equivalent independent oversight mechanism dedicated to mineral revenues.

To him, the existence of PIAC has strengthened scrutiny of how oil revenues are managed through regular reports and public disclosures – a level of oversight that the mineral sector currently lacks.

Therefore, expanding PIAC’s mandate to cover mineral revenues or introducing similar transparency mechanisms could help improve accountability.

Proactive transparency from public institutions will strengthen public confidence and allow citizens to better understand how revenues from the country’s natural resources are being managed.

Additionally, regular publication of annual financial statements and updates on investment performance will help strengthen accountability and enable stakeholders to assess whether the fund’s activities are delivering value.

The establishment of MIIF was intended to enhance value derived from the country’s mineral resources by investing royalties from the mining sector in strategic projects capable of generating long-term returns.

But there is still limited publicly available information on the returns generated from those investments.

There is a need to see more detailed reporting on the performance of these investments, including how much returns they are generating and how those returns contribute to national development.

MIIF must adopt a more proactive approach to information disclosure rather than waiting for stakeholders to request information. Publishing details about the fund’s investments will provide greater clarity on projects supported through its portfolio.

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