Sierra Leone and Liberia discuss Beneficial Ownership transparency and other EITI implementation
Sierra Leone and Liberia have successfully ended a week-long peer learning exchange in Monrovia on EITI implementation with emphasis on Beneficial Ownership Disclosure and other specific EITI requirements. It comes following the significant progress both countries have achieved since signing up to the EITI and the need to further demonstrate commitment to meeting the 2023 EITI Standard.
Funded by the GIZ through the Regional Resource Governance in West Africa (ReGo), the Sierra Leone delegation to Liberia comprises a cross section of representatives of the SLEITI Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG) mainly from the NMA, NRA, CAC, MMMR, FIU, CSOs, and the SLEITI Secretariat. Each participating entity contributed meaningfully to the deliberations from the standpoints of EITI and the roles they are expected to perform in the processes leading up to the development of the Beneficial Ownership Register and Regulations.
During deliberations, both countries gave an overview of their Beneficial Ownership journeys and this was led by Jefferey Yates and Mohamed Baimba Koroma; National Coordinators of EITI in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Among other issues, Sierra Leone gathered from its counterpart that Open Extractives supported Liberia from the inception to the development of the Public Register coupled with strong government commitment and stakeholder participation.
While the bigger picture was to understand the approaches adopted by Liberia in developing their Beneficial Ownership register and the aspects of data collection, management, and public access, the two countries leverage on the opportunity to shed light on forward looking mechanisms in implementing the 2023 EITI Standard related to Anti-Corruption, energy transition, Revenue Collection, Environment and gender issues.
The successful conclusion of the peer learning event in Liberia demonstrates the shared resilience and commitment of the two countries to strengthen EITI implementations with a view of ensuring that the natural resource wealth becomes an engine for sustainable economic growth and poverty eradication through transparent, accountable and effective management of revenues generated from their extractive sectors.
In accordance with the EITI standard, Beneficial Ownership seeks to uncover the veils of who ultimately owns and controls the companies operating in the extractive industries, particularly those identified by the multi-stakeholder group as high-risk, to help deter improper and corrupt practices in the management of extractive resources and to help monitor the ownership of politically exposed persons.
