Revenues from natural resources – especially oil and gas, or the ‘extractive industries’ – are an important source of income for the governments of more than 50 developing countries, including Angola, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Venezuela. In 2005, global revenues from oil exports alone were estimated at US $694 billion.[1].
The paradox is that much of this wealth flows out of countries with high levels of poverty. Properly managed, these revenues ought to serve as a basis for poverty reduction, economic growth and sustainable development. Unfortunately this is not the case. In the absence of transparency and strong institutions, the huge sums of money involved engender corruption and abuse. Inadequate governance and lack of accountability in the use of natural resource revenue keeps countries that ought to be prospering from the resources, poor.
Transparency International’s (TI) Promoting Revenue Transparency Project is one of a number of civil society initiatives aiming to increase transparency in extractive industry revenue flows, and to empower citizens with the information they need to hold their governments accountable for how these resources are used. Other similar initiatives include the global civil society coalition ‘Publish What You Pay’, the international multi-stakeholder ‘Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’, and the Revenue Watch Institute. TI’s project works in close collaboration with these other initiatives.
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