July 2018 News and Analysis from NRGI
Highlights
State-Owned Economic Enterprise Reform in Myanmar: The Case of Natural Resource Enterprises
Jade valuation. Photo by Minzayar Oo for NRGI.
Myanmar’s state-owned economic enterprises regularly generate approximately 50 percent of the government's fiscal revenues and spend as much in the domestic economy. But there are governance problems, which this report addresses with recommended reforms. This Myanmar Times op-ed highlights the report's conclusions.
Will Transparency Gains Ensure Petroleum Contract Stability Under Mexico’s New President?
NRGI's Thomas Lassourd writes that it’s unlikely the new administration will take bold steps against oil and gas contracts already signed and investments already made.
NRGI's New Online Course, Petronia, Featured in The Economist's Money Talks Podcast
The online game, which takes place in the fictional country of Petronia, was profiled by emerging markets editor Simon Cox. The story begins at 15:46.
Event
NRGI Presents Monitoring Report on Transparency Best Practices at Mexico's Natural Hydrocarbons Commission
Featuring NRGI president and CEO Daniel Kaufmann, this event will highlight two new reports to Mexico's petroleum regulator, the CNH. Watch the presentation live at 6 p.m. EDT Tuesday (today) on CNH's website. Please note the reports are in Spanish and the presentation will also be in Spanish.
Blog
New Fund Plans Could Divert Mongolia’s Focus from Mining Sector Reforms
A new fund would divert Mongolia’s scarce government income away from essential public services, such as education and healthcare. (Read the post in Mongolian.)
Four Methods to Drive a Successful First Oil Licensing Round in Ghana
A recent workshop led by NRGI and Open Contracting Partnership aimed to help Ghana’s Ministry of Energy conduct a transparent and successful bid round, homing in on the recent experiences of Mexican and Lebanese petroleum regulatory authorities.
Does More Data Mean Enhanced Transparency? Ghana, Mexico, Tanzania and Tunisia Sector Experts Weigh In
At the annual advanced-level Reversing the Resource Curse: Theory and Practice course NRGI runs at Central European University in Budapest, NRGI's Sidra Khalid spoke with four participants to learn what the fight for transparency, accountability and the increased availability of published data really means for good natural resource governance.
Guinea to Host the AU’s African Minerals Development Center
Since 2013, the African Minerals Development Center has supervised the establishment of country-level mining visions in 13 countries, facilitated the Africa Mining Vision Private Sector Compact, established an Africa Mining Vision Civil Society Forum and initiated an African Minerals Governance Framework. (Read this post in French.)
NRGI in the news and on the web
Fighting the Resource Curse Through Online Gaming
The Economist [paywall]
Governments Need to Publish Oil and Gas Contracts
Financial Times [registration required]
Shrouded in Secrecy, SOE Profits are not Financing Country’s Development
The Myanmar Times
Cooking the Books
Frontier Myanmar
Neue Transparenz bei Glencore (German audio)
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF)
How Has Think Tank Transparency Evolved in 2018?
Transparify
'This Government Was Left With a Huge Mess'
Frontier Myanmar
The Myth of Mining’s ‘Resource Curse’
World Economic Forum blog
Glencore öffnet sich – wenn auch nur einen Spalt breit
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF)
Worry as PIGB Fails to Address Critical Governance Issues in Petroleum Industry
The Guardian (Nigeria)
Gov't Losing Hundreds of Millions a Year on SOE Profit Rules, Report Reveals
Frontier Myanmar
U.S. Challenge to Glencore Unlikely to Faze Others in Africa
The National (United Arab Emirates)
Experts Seek Sustainable Funding of Sovereign Wealth Fund
Business Day (Nigeria)
Opening Up Extractives Contracting to Deter Corruption: What We’ve Learned
Open Government Partnership blog