The Natural Resources Governance Institute has launched the 2017 edition of Resource Governance Index.

The index includes new assessments of oil, gas and mining governance in 81 countries. It comprises primary research on value realization and revenue management, and draws on existing research to paint a picture of countries’ enabling environments for governance.

The assessments take into account laws and practices concerning licensing, taxation, state-owned enterprises, sovereign wealth funds, sub national revenue sharing, national budgeting, local impacts of extraction and more. 

The objective of the RGI was to raise global awareness on the governance of natural resources by natural resource host countries, for easy comparison and analysis.

Launching the report in Accra the African Consultant for NRGI Mr Emmanuel Kuyole, said the RGI was a unique index since it was the only international report dedicated to the measurement of governance of natural resources globally, and the use of the decision chain charter.

Mr Kayole noted that the 2017 index was exceptional since 89 assessments were done out of the 81 countries that produce oil, gas and mining unlike the 2013 index which covered only 59 countries.

“The 2017 index is extensive because we engaged 150 renowned mineral consultants around the world to compile the data, analysis and validation and the index also covers 133 questions,” he said.

He said countries that were captured in the assessment comprised three-quarters of the leading countries that produce oil, gas and minerals in the world.

He said in this year’s edition, the researchers looked at the mining sector separately and scored the countries accordingly, and also captured the oil and gas sectors separately.

Mr Kayole said the report looked at the laws and policies of the countries and assessed whether they were transparent and accessible and also the practice as to whether those countries were complying with the laws and policies governing resource management.

“We looked at the practice since the difference between the laws and the practices are key to help us identify where the gaps are in the way the natural resource sectors are governed in those countries,” he said.

He said the governance of the natural resources was key because it contributed to addressing poverty in those countries; therefore, the governance was crucial in determining whether those managing them were using revenues accruing from natural resources judiciously to benefit their citizens.

The 2017 index covered the scope of index, how it is calculated, and the indicators of the index.

It also captured what the index can measure and cannot measure and put forward proposals to improve upon natural resource governance.

The Natural Resource Governance Institute is an international non-governmental organization that worked mainly on the governance of natural resources in the extractive sectors (mining, oil and gas).

It undertakes research, training programs for civil society organizations, media practitioners, members of Parliament, as well as national and international advocacy on proper natural resource governance.

It produced the first edition of the RGI in 2010 followed with the second one in 2013.

The program which was  launched by the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and chaired  by the former Vice Chancellor Professor Ernest Aryeetey had Adam Wakilu  MP for  Damongo and Benita Owusu  Bioh also Deputy Minister  of  Land and Natural Resources.