By Politico staff writer
With support from the Government of Sierra Leone, Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) of the Sierra Leone Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (SLEITI) has implemented a two-day pre-validation workshop in Bo on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) implementation, dubbed “Understanding the 2021 EITI Validation Procedure”
The EITI International Technical Team led the MSG through several modules including “Changes to the EITI Validation, Approach to assessing country progress and documenting progress for Validation”, an exercise which was deemed timely and essential for all relevant stakeholders.
In addition to ensuring that the MSG familiarize with the new Validation model adopted by the EITI Board, and how to complete the new Validation templates, the Technical Team also held bilateral meetings with relevant government agencies and actors to find out how EITI implementation in Sierra Leone can be strengthened.
Speaking at the two-day workshop, the Minister of State-Vice President Office, and Chair SLEITI MSG, Madam Francess Piagie Alghali said Sierra Leone will effectively commence its first Validation under the new Model on 1st April 2022. She said amidst the height of Covid-19, the MSG made frantic efforts to implement the provisions of the 2019 EITI Standard and consciously addressed the 2018 Validation corrective actions. Therefore, “I am optimistic that efforts made so far in addressing the 2018 Validation corrective actions, and steps taken by the SLEITI MSG will position Sierra Leone well in the upcoming Validation.”
According to Madam Alghali, the Government has also strived to ensure that EITI implementation is sustained and contributes to government reforms. She said the MSG’s governance process initially deemed problematic by the EITI Board in its previous Validation has been addressed through the development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). “With the publication of the 2019 SLEITI Report and the gap analysis by the EITI Board” Sierra Leone has adequately dealt with its 2018 corrective actions even though few issues remain outstanding.” A member of the MSG stated.
On the sidelines of this workshop, the Policy Lead, Climate Change, and Energy Transition -Africa Centre for Energy Policy; Charles Gyamfi Ofori gave a succinct analysis of the revenue potential of the quarry industry in Ghana and what he described as “lessons for Sierra Leone.” Mr. Ofori’s presentation painted a clear picture of the quarry sector noting that Sierra Leone and Ghana share similar stories. He said “regulatory bodies must improve oversight of the quarries and develop tools that ensure accountability and transparency reporting” should the revenue potential were to be maximized; adding that one way to do so is through EITI reporting.
The single thread which ran through the statements of commitments by the MSG constituent groups at the end of the workshop revolves around “legislating the EITI to law to ensure that the process is sustained and in good footing.”
As a buildup mechanism to strengthen the capacity and readiness of relevant stakeholders, the two-day workshop brought together the MSG constituency groups - civil society organizations on extractives, mining companies, and government representatives to receive hands-on support from the Anglophone Country Manager and Country Officer of the EITI International Secretariat.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (11/02/22)
