Background

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard that promotes revenue transparency and accountability in the oil and gas and mining sectors. It is an international initiative between governments, companies and civil society groups to promote transparency in the flow of revenues from extractive companies to host country governments based on a set of criteria for transparent reporting on the revenue streams and other benefits. It has a robust yet flexible methodology for disclosing and reconciling company payments and government revenues in EITI implementing countries.

The purpose of the initiative is to encourage greater transparency in the extractive sector. This would enable citizens to make informed demands for the fair and sustainable use of revenues generated through the exploitation of natural resources. It is expected that accountable governments and informed public will contribute to greater political stability, increased security in mining communities and improved investment climate.
EITI implementation has two core components:

• Transparency: oil, gas and mining companies disclose the payments they have made to the government, and the government discloses its receipts from the companies. The figures are reconciled by an Independent Administrator, and published in annual EITI Reports alongside contextual information about the extractive sector.
• Accountability: a multi-stakeholder group with representatives from government, companies and civil society is established to oversee the process and communicate the findings of the EITI Report; creates the platform for citizens’ engagement with government and companies on the report, and facilitates responses to critical issues raised by the reports and arising out of the engagements.

Ghana signed on to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in 2003 and has since been implementing the Standard. The implementation of the EITI started with the mining sector and extended to the oil and gas sector in September, 2010.

The Ghana version of the initiative is called the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI). A twenty (20) member National Steering Committee (NSC) made up of representatives from government, mining and oil and gas companies, Civil Society organizations have oversight responsibility over the activities of the initiative.

The specific objectives of the Ghana EITI are to:

• enhance the demand-side of social accountability by providing public insight into revenues derived from the exploitation of the country's mineral resources;
• Create the platform for public debate on the spending  efficiency of extractive sector  revenues; Identify gaps and weaknesses in resource revenue management and make recommendations to prevent revenue leakage;
• Enhance the communication efficiency of GHEITI and ensure that mineral revenue / expenditure information are provided in a timely manner, and in an accessible and comprehensible format;
• Guarantee the sustainability of Ghana's EITI by backing it with legislation This will commit successive governments to the initiative and ensure that public resources are made available for its implementation.