Policy Advice

Given the purpose and environment facing WARW, research will be critical to give it the credibility and legitimacy to position it to insert itself in the policy arena, provide credible advice to key stakeholders and generally influence policy and practice. Research will also enable it to prepare and deliver raining and support to the key stakeholders to empower them to better discharge their obligations, especially related to the sustainable management of natural resources.

WARW ‘s research will aim to provide tools/documentation for influencing policy makers to modify existing company reporting, regulation systems to support fiscal regime to enable resource-rich countries maximize revenue, build and maintain social stability, protect the environment and inspire investor confidence. Areas of research will be in: 1) case studies of successful maximization of revenues from extractives, 2) avoiding the resource-curse, 3) revenue losses and gaps as a result of existing fiscal regimes, 4) an appropriate accounting framework for transparency and accountability by companies. Inventory of existing national laws and policies on extractives This research part of the project could inventory all national extractives policies including mining policies and laws, fiscal regimes, contracts/agreements and national constitutions on the one hand its international commitments like human rights and African rights frameworks.

The above inventory will enable an analysis and gap identification in terms of 1) what the country has committed to do for its citizens, 2) whether the fiscal regime allows enough revenue to be derived to finance its minimum commitments to citizens, 3) what gaps exist, in terms of law and policy, to allow the country to derive maximum benefits from extractives and 4) what legislation is necessary and whether at national, regional, like ECOWAS, AU parliaments to give effect to the required fiscal regime and 5) strategy for consolidating all these into a legislation, based on debating and choosing between policy-based fiscal regimes and a rule-based one for ensuring the prudent, judicious and equitable use of extractive resources governing all stakeholders including all tiers of government, companies and all who manage resources from extractives.

Accounting framework/standards; An appropriate accounting and financial framework that allows for the transparent and accurate and timely recording of revenues, their allocation, expenditure, recording, audit and reporting. This system should also allow for the transparent and accountable reporting of companies involved in extractives. Current attempts at designing and implementing reporting templates under the EITI needs to go from tracking what companies are paying and what governments are receiving. The more important area is what companies should have been paying that is currently not happening because of bad contracts/agreements, numerous tricks employed by companies to avoid, evade pay appropriate taxes and the weak capacities of governments to re-negotiate for better terms. This is where a harmonious fiscal regime for extractives defining clearly a West African fiscal regime for extractives with the following key elements: 1) equity participation for government 2) royalties of not less than 10% and 3) tighter exemptions and incentives.