Fueling the war?

NGOs say oil firms operating in Angola enrich undemocratic and corrupt governments, fuel civil wars, pollute the environment and end up doing more harm than good - charges the oil giants deny.

There have been signs of progress:
1. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI http://www.eitransparency.org
The EITI is an initiative to encourage greater transparency in reporting revenues received by host Governments from the extractive industries (primarily oil, gas and mining). It is anticipated that improved transparency will lead to greater accountability about how their resources are utilised by Governments and will act as a check on corruption associated with the industry. The EITI is currently being implemented in a handful of countries, mainly in Africa (including Nigeria, Ghana, Sao Tome and the DR of Congo) and in the former Soviet Union (Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic). The only other country in the Americas with an EITI programme is Peru. It is notable that amongst this list are some of the countries with the worst history of lack of accountability, corruption and violence associated with the extractive industries. The EITI is clearly being promoted as a mechanism to deal with the awful history of the oil, gas and mining industries in these countries and is receiving the strong backing of the World Bank, DfID and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

2. NGO -Global Witness, http://www.globalwitness.org , Nobel Prize-nominated campaign group, "citizens of resource-rich-but-poor countries have little or no information about how much their governments are being paid for their oil or how the money is spent."
Simon Taylor said "Our investigations in war-torn Angola suggest that at least US$1 billion every year for the last five years - about one-third of state income - went missing from the government's coffers, most of which came from oil. If companies like ChevronTexaco and TotalfinaElf do not reveal how much money they are paying, then it is impossible for Angolan citizens to find out how much is missing."
Global Witness works in countries devastated by conflict, massive corruption, and human
rights abuses. Global Witness raises issues central to these problems by carrying out our
own field investigations, often using covert techniques, revealing information that is not
available to others. Global Witness then publishes reports and lobbies policy makers for
significant and lasting change. Global Witness has gained the reputation of an organization with expertise in accountability and corporate transparency in natural resource management. Global Witness has been joint nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for this work in
Angola and other countries globally, specifically for the pioneering and groundbreaking work
on conflict diamonds.

3. The Publish What You Pay , http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/english/index.shtml campaign aims to help citizens of resource-rich developing countries hold their governments accountable for the management of revenues from the oil, gas and mining industries. Natural resource revenues are an important source of income for governments of over 50 developing countries, including Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, Kazakhstan and Venezuela. When properly managed these revenues should serve as a basis for poverty reduction, economic growth and development rather than exacerbating corruption, conflict and social divisiveness.
The Publish What You Pay coalition of over 250 NGOs worldwide calls for the mandatory disclosure of the payments made by oil, gas and mining companies' to all governments for the extraction of natural resources. This is a necessary first step towards a more accountable system for the management of revenues in resource-rich developing countries. The campaign was founded by Global Witness, CAFOD, Oxfam, Save the Children UK, Transparency International UK and George Soros, Chairman of the Open Society Institute.