Congo will have to make additional efforts in terms of extractive sector governance, before the next validation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in April 2025. Corrective measures include facilitating consistent supervision by the multi-stakeholder group of the process and regular decision-making.
The EITI Board will assess Congo’s level of compliance with the 2023 standard during the session scheduled for 1 April 2025. In an attempt to increase its chances of maintaining its status as an EITI-compliant country, Congo has set up a project to “support the strengthening of governance in the extractive industries sector in the Republic of Congo”, with the support of the French government through Expertise France.
In twenty-two months, the project has enabled the capacity building of approximately two hundred national stakeholders, who are stakeholders in the EITI (public administrations, private companies, civil society organizations). Thanks to funding from the French Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects (FSPI) estimated at 557,000 euros, or approximately 363 million FCFA, exchange and training workshops have been organized for the benefit of local stakeholders.
The assessment of the project “to support the strengthening of governance in the extractive industries sector in the Republic of Congo” was made on July 31 in Brazzaville, during a meeting bringing together members of the permanent secretariat of the EITI Congo and their French partners. Indeed, the objective of the FSPI was to prepare Congo for the next evaluation of its system. ” Through this project […], France stood alongside Congo to support the improvement of public management and accountability in the extractive industry sector ,” said Lionel Vignaca, Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Action at the French Embassy in Congo.
He added that the initiative is part of France’s action of cooperation and solidarity investment aimed at supporting Congo in its efforts for better governance of natural resources. The completed project embodies, he continued, the mutual commitment of France and Congo to promote the best standards, recognized worldwide, in terms of transparency.
This financial support has above all made it possible to provide Congo with the necessary tools to improve the management of its extractive resources as well as public accountability, welcomed the permanent secretary of the national EITI committee, Florent Michel Okoko. ” The stakeholders, including the permanent secretariat of the EITI, were able to appreciate the different key concepts of extractive resource management, the standard in its 2023 version and the richness of the dialogue between these different entities ,” he said.
