Arecent survey on the quality of governance in African countries with extractive industries has provided insights into the level of official development assistance (ODA) being provided by donors to support governance-related initiatives.
The survey, which was conducted by the Norwegian Oil for Development Initiative in coordination with the African Development Bank and the World Bank, identified around 60 projects active in the period 2004-2006, based on responses from donors. The survey found that the World Bank was the largest donor of relevant governance-related assistance to the extractive industries, contributing US$162.8 million, or about 70% of the total survey amount.
Other significant donors included the European Commission, Norway, and the African Development Bank. The main recipients of this assistance were Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, Mauritania, Zambia, Ghana, and Mozambique.
Nigeria received the largest share of the expenditure commitment total at 30%, followed by the DRC and Uganda at 9% each. The survey’s findings underscore the importance of building capacity for improving governance in extractive industries in African countries, which can help these countries to use their natural resources for sustainable economic development.
However, the survey also highlights the need for better categorisation and reporting of ODA to extractive industry governance initiatives, as many relevant projects were apparently not reported under the sector code for mineral resources and mining in the CRS database.
Moving forward, more comprehensive surveys should be conducted to provide a clearer perspective on the volume and type of assistance being provided to support governance-related initiatives in extractive industries, as well as its distribution across countries.
This information will be critical for improving the basis for decisions regarding support and for ensuring that ODA is being used effectively to support sustainable development in African countries with extractive industries.
