The 3rd regional dialogue and training on contract negotiation and fiscal policies in the Extractive industry organised by the NEPAD has ended in Yaounde.
The African continent is endowed with huge mineral and oil resources capable of catapulting the continent’s economic growth and development.
Unfortunately, much of the benefits accrued from the exploration and exploitation of these natural resources does not get into the coffers of the various governments.
In fact, Africa loses about 38 billion USD (circa over FCFA 223 billion) annually in the extractive industries according to information disclosed by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD, during a three-day 3rd Regional Dialogue and Training on Contract Negotiation and Fiscal Policies in the Extractive Industries. In Cameroon, the losses are estimated at about FCFA 1 billion monthly (FCFA 12 billion annually) according to 2016 data collected in low mechanised artisanal mining sites in the East and Adamawa regions by Mining Support and Promotion Framework (CAPAM).
Speaking at the start of the get-together Saturday May 27, NEPAD’s Director of Programmes, Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong stated that the dialogue and training of officials from the ministries of Finance and Mines of scores of African countries to share experiences and learn from each other on the phenomenon manifested through tax avoidance, evasion and other illicit financial flows.
Maximising revenue from the sector will boost not only the infrastructural development of Africa but also its agriculture, she opined. “Resources needed to develop agriculture and infrastructures are lesser than what is lost annually.
If we can stop the bleeding in the extractive industries and maximise revenue, we will see the enormous contribution of the sector to Africa’s development,” she posited.
The Secretary General in Cameroon’s Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Edouard Ebah Abada hailed NEPAD for organising the training which he said comes at a time Cameroon has adopted a new Mining Code with text of application being prepared.
To the representative of German Technical Corporation, GIZ, Torge Hamkens, the organisation is assisting developing countries to better negotiate extractive contracts with exploiting companies.
The leakages of revenue in the sector is a global problem with James Reynolds, Programme Director of International Senior Lawyers Project, saying its propitious time for countries to engage in this type of dialogue and stem financial loses.
