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21. Financing Options for the Ugandan National Oil Company

Author:
Thomas Lassourd
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
This briefing note is an effort to help frame the main tradeoffs and assess four potential funding models for the newly created national oil company of Uganda. It is based on NRGI’s international experience and understanding of the local context. Uganda’s national oil company will have a critical role. It is expected to professionally manage all aspects of state participation in the sector and act as a center of expertise for the government. It is also expected to play a strong role as a minority equity partner in the USD 4.3 billion Hoima refinery project and potentially in a USD 4 billion export pipeline. Under all possible funding options, strong audit and reporting processes should be required, as well as parliamentary oversight. The chosen funding model will also need to balance the needs of the national oil company with national development needs in Uganda. Funding model options can be adapted to meet Uganda’s unique situation. NRGI is at the disposal of Uganda’s government and parliament to discuss these models.
Topic:
Development, Energy Policy, Oil, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

22. Answering Questions About the Commodity Slump: A Summary from the 2015 NRGI Conference

Author:
David Manley
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
There has rarely been as large a commodity boom, with such resounding effects, as the one that has recently ended. Policy makers and commentators saw the boom as an opportunity to pull hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But, after the crash of commodity prices, one might ask whether this opportunity been largely missed. Policymakers and citizens of resource-rich countries should draw lessons from the experience and ascertain what risks and opportunities they now face in a period of depressed prices. To contribute to this thinking, NRGI gathered more than 180 experts for two days of discussion at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, in June 2015. Key questions addressed in this conference summary paper include: Were countries prepared for the bust? Was a lack of accountability and transparency really to blame for countries’ poor resource governance efforts? How can transparency be more useful? Has the price slump closed the door on new investment? Is there a “race to the bottom” to stem capital flight? Can we turn the crisis into an opportunity?
Topic:
Development, International Trade and Finance, Oil, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

23. In Pursuit of Transparent Trading

Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Commodity trading and the activities of trading companies influence economic and governance outcomes in developing countries. Typically privately owned with flexible business models, many trading companies work extensively in “high-risk” environments – including countries with weak institutions, conflicts or other challenges that scare away more risk-averse companies. Given the size of this footprint, and its prevalence in countries with high levels of corruption or poverty (or both), the quality of trading companies’ business practices is of serious concern. Trading companies play several roles through which they influence public institutions and public revenues, and they frequently build close relationships with top officials and political elites. They are major buyers of raw materials sold by governments and state-owned companies worldwide, and these transactions generate significant public revenues. Traders also provide large loans to governments, sell refined products, and enter into joint ventures with state-owned entities. They are expanding their upstream and downstream operations in developing countries as well.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

24. Owning Up: Options for Disclosing the Identities of Beneficial Owners of Extractive Companies

Author:
Aaron Sayne, Erica Westenberg, and Amir Shafaie
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Global interest in ownership transparency is growing, with the G8 adopting principles on beneficial ownership; a dozen EITI countries participating in a beneficial ownership pilot; and the US, UK and EU taking steps toward making more beneficial ownership information available. The aim of such initiatives is to shed light on secret ownership structures that enable some extractive companies to evade tax payments or hide improper relationships with government officials. While a complex and opaque ownership structure is no sure sign that an extractives company is engaging in financial misconduct, the publication of beneficial ownership information can help to deter improper practices and enable detection. This briefing explores options open to countries for collecting, publishing and using information on the beneficial owners of oil, gas and mining companies. It provides background on how beneficial ownership works in the extractive industries and why it matters. The briefing also offers governments, companies and civil society members a framework for deciding what information to publish, and considers the critical question of what more disclosure could realistically achieve.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Global Focus

25. From Reporting to Reform: Eleven Opportunities for Increasing EITI Impacts

Author:
Max George-Wagner and Erica Westenberg
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Under the EITI Standard, implementing countries are required to produce far more comprehensive reports than before; these go beyond revenue payments to include disclosures across the entire extractive industries decision chain. However, the objective of the Standard is not merely to generate more data, but rather that stakeholders will use the information to impact the governance of the sector. This EITI briefing note explores how countries are faring at meeting the EITI’s more ambitious requirements and what implementing countries can do to begin moving “from reporting to reform.” This briefing note is based on a review of the first 22 reports produced under the Standard; the review assesses both the quality of reporting, as well as the content. We found that in many respects countries have risen to the challenge and become more ambitious and comprehensive in their reporting. This has included highlighting critical deficiencies in license allocation processes, revealing politically affiliated owners of companies, and identifying significant local revenues that were never disbursed. However, a number of significant gaps remain and these are holding countries back from seeing meaningful impacts from their EITI processes. For instance, these reports have missed opportunities to inform major tax code revisions, ignored hotly debated issues of sector employment, and left stakeholders in the dark about individual extractive projects.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, Intelligence, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

26. NRGI Readers: A Primer Series About Resource Governance

Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
NRGI has created a series of short, illustrated overviews of key topics in NRGI's portfolio of work. Together they serve as a robust introduction for the lay reader to fundamental issues and concepts in resource governance. Most contain helpful figures and infographics, and each reader has a standard format: key messages, key concepts and case examples, and a final set of practitioner-orientated questions to ask. Each topic is explicitly linked to the relevant precepts of the Natural Resource Charter.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, Oil, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus