EITI in Niger

=Candidacy=

Niger was accepted as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Candidate Country on 27 September 2007.

=Governance=

The national EITI committee is made up of three subcommittees: statistics and audits, capacity building and communications. As of April 2012 Mr. Abdul Aziz Askia was serving as the Permanent EITI Secretary for Niger and the national coordinator, he was appointed when their candidacy was accepted in 2007.

=Multi-Stakeholder Group=

On the 16 August 2009 the civil society representatives of the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) in Niger chose to temporarily suspend their participation in the EITI process. The representatives said that civil society activists campaigning for good governance and transparency in Niger were facing serious incidents of harassment and intimidation. The EITI Chairman and International Secretariat declared that the process had become stalled since EITI criterion 5 requires that "civil society is actively engaged as a participant in the design, monitoring and evaluation of this process and contributes towards public debate".

On 28 September 2009, the members of civil society decided to return to work with the EITI national committee in Niger. The decision came after the release of two civil society members Marou Amadou and Wada Maman.

The first EITI report was approved by the multi-stakeholder group in October 2009. A second EITI report covering 2007-2009 was published on 19 January 2011. Mr. Foumakoye Gado, the Minister of Energy and Oil, chairs the EITI MSG.

=Compliance=

Niger published a final validation report on 5 September 2010 and was accepted by the EITI Board as EITI Compliant on 1 March 2011. Niger must be revalidated by 29 February 2016. The MSG may request that the EITI Board requires a new Validation at any time within that period if they think the process needs reviewing.

=Reconciliation Reports=

First Reconciliation Report
The first report covered 2005-2006. It listed company payments of US$ 25,374,332 and government receipts of US$ 25,063,834. This left a discrepancy of US$ 310,498. The report covered only mining revenues.

Second Reconciliation Report
The second report covered 2007-2009 and was expanded to cover the petroleum sector. The report also included Société du Patrimoine des Mines du Niger (SOPAMIN) for the first time. The second report listed company payments of US$ 143,129,702.95 and government receipts of US$ 143,129,702.95, which match perfectly. In reaction to the report, Revenue Watch Institute said that "it seems nearly impossible that there would not be a single outstanding discrepancy, especially considering the number of companies reporting." They also said that the analysis of revenues per commodity was impossible, since companies do not identify the materials extracted.

=External Links=

Revenue Watch Institute's analysis of the first EITI Niger Report.

Revenue Watch Institute's analysis of the second EITI Niger Report.

=References=