Addressing Chinese industry leaders this week, World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged investors in Africa's natural resource sector to embrace transparency, avoid secretive deals, and foster job creation in host countries. Okonjo-Iweala made her comments at "China Mining 2010," a large-scale extractive industry conference hosted by the China Ministry of Land & Resources in Tianjin, China.
"Mining companies should not just come in to extract natural resources in a raw form and ship them away," said Okonjo-Iweala. "This is colonial history. Today, they should establish some degree of processing, adding value to the raw materials. This creates employment, develops skills, and leads to more buy-in from the local people."
Okonjo-Iweala, who is the former Finance Minister in Nigeria, cited her work to boost public confidence in government among Nigerians by publishing the revenues government received, as well as its budget expenditures—two keystones of the transparency movement and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
"Investors also benefit from the EITI guidelines on how to conduct transactions transparently and legally," Okonjo-Iweala continued. "I encourage you to support and sign on to EITI if your company has not already done so."
Revenue Watch commends this strong endorsement of transparency to China, an increasingly significant player in the global extractive industries.
"No one is more credible and compelling in making the case for transparency in extractive resource management than Nigeria's former Finance Minister," said Revenue Watch Director Karin Lissakers. "Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala knows firsthand the debilitating impact of secrecy and corruption to a resource rich country, and few officials have fought as fiercely and effectively to bring transparency and accountability to bear. This is a message Chinese companies and officials need to hear."
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