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SOURCE: TheCitizen NewspaperDar seeks to benefit from its minerals
By The Citizen Correspondents, October 21, 2008
The Government has joined the International Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to see how Tanzania could benefit more from its mineral resources.
This was said yesterday by the minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr William Ngeleja, at a press conference in his office in Dar es Salaam. With him was his deputy, Mr Adam Malima.
Mr Ngeleja said the Government had joined the initiative because its objective was to empower Governments and investors in resource extractive industries.
The ultimate objective is to be transparent in their earnings and use of the profits from their activities, he said and continued:
"We are joining the initiative to expand our ability to curb mineral resource manipulation not because we cannot currently, but we are enlargig our capacity."
"He said EITI was an important instrument that had 22 members. It could empower the Government to implement its declaration to facilitate good governance and supervision of the mining sector.
He said by joining the initiative,Tanzania would get an opportunity to exchange expertise and explain all that is earned from the mining sector.
He said the sector included minerals, gas and oil (if discovered) as important and able to bring forth development.
"Transparency with earnings from the sector in line with EITI's plans will help ensure that mineral resources benefit the country in question instead of being a burden to its citizens," he said.
Mr Ngeleja said the sector had in the past proved that it could significantly contribute to the country's income.
He said production of gold had grown from five tonnes in 1999 to 50 tonnes in 2007, a 38 per cent increase. This made Tanzania the fourth gold producer in Africa.
He said the mining sector contributed greatly to the country's foreign exchange but its contribution to the country's GDP was still small.
He further said that the Government was in the process of preparing a mineral law and policy to be ready by next April.
SOURCE: ThisDayMining sector under the microscope: Is Tanzania purposely avoiding transparency?
-New international report suggests so
MBARAKA ISLAM
Dar es Salaam, Monday, October 15 2007
TANZANIA as a country appears uninterested in joining an international initiative administered by the World Bank that obliges resource-rich countries to show more transparency through the verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas, and mining proceeds.
Dubbed the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the programme works to build multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries in order to improve governance and increase the accountability of governments.
To become fully compliant, a country needs to sign up, prepare, disclose and disseminate information on all the material revenues received by its government from the oil, gas and mining sectors with the full engagement of other stakeholders in that country.
But according to a recent EITI report, Tanzania as a country has so far failed to become a member of the organization alongside 14 other African countries that also boast of much natural resource wealth.
It is understood that most of the African countries that have entered into large-scale mining and oil exploration deals have either become full members or shown some interest in joining EITI, where membership is voluntary and there is no annual fee to pay.
''The first step is for the government to declare its intention to join. I am not aware of any sign that the Government of Tanzania has expressed interest in joining EITI,'' said Dr Brenda Haendler, a US State Department official dealing with EITI issues in Washington DC.
Haendler, who attended the EITI board meeting in Oslo, Norway last month, said they were also not aware of Tanzania being on the meeting agenda or not.
According to the EITI report made available to THISDAY, the initiative works to build multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries in order to increase the accountability of governments.
Among other things, the initiative believes that good governance is a precondition for converting large revenues from extractive industries into economic growth and poverty reduction.
''When transparency and accountability are weak, the extractive industries may instead contribute to poverty, corruption, and conflict - the so-called 'resource curse','' says the initiative on its website.
Primary beneficiaries of EITI are governments and citizens of resource-rich countries. Implementation of the initiative as part of a programme of improved governance is seen as a step forward to helping to ensure that oil, gas, and mining revenues contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction.
''Knowing what companies pay and what governments receive is a critical first step to holding decision-makers accountable for the use of revenues. Resource-rich countries implementing EITI can benefit from an improved investment climate by providing a clear signal to investors and to international financial institutions, that the government is committed to strengthening transparency and accountability,'' says the initiative website.
The EITI initiative is financed in part through a multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) administered by the World Bank. France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom all currently contribute to the fund.
According to the latest EITI report, a total of 15 candidate countries all around the world have now been given two years to establish themselves as fully compliant to join. These are Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, and Yemen.
Nine other countries have asked for more information before the end of the year, in order to make a decision about membership: Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, and Timor-Leste.
Regarding Tanzania's position, officials of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals were not immediately available to comment on why the country has not applied for membership of the initiative.
Efforts by THISDAY to get a government statement on the matter continue.
