News and resources
Explore our publications on a wide range of topics, to find the powerful facts, stories and approaches that underpin our work to make the extractive industry more open, accountable and participatory.
In Good Company? Conversations around Transparency and Accountability in South Africa’s Extractive Sector
This is a collection of submitted articles around mining issues and produced by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa. It includes a chapter on the important role of coordinated and collective actions of a diverse coalition of organisations for greater impact and influence: The coalition is king! Perspectives on the Publish What You Pay […]
Human scars – the links between taxes and human rights
Taxes and human rights may not seem the most obvious bed fellows. Yet tax avoidance, incentives and other tax abuses, as well as poorly designed tax systems, deprive citizens of basic needs, in particular access to health care, water and sanitation services and education. This is no truer than in resource-rich developing countries where extractive […]
Following The Money: Malawi embarks onto the right path towards ensuring transparency and accountability in the extractives industry
Publish What You Pay Malawi Press Release: 30th October 2015 Background: In Malawi, like in many other resource-rich countries in the region, minerals, oil and gas have the potential to raise sustainable revenue for national development. But in order to fulfil this potential, fair deals, tax justice and robust agreements are paramount. It is, therefore, […]
Regional Fairshare on Gender Equality in the Extractive Industries: building on good practices
Between 13 and 15 October 2015 a regional event on Gender Equality in the Extractive Industries was organised at the United Nations, Headquarters, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya. The Conference was aimed at promoting the inclusion of women in the extractives industry, to include extraction of oil, gas and minerals; open discussion on various ways in which […]
Human scars – Is there a hidden cost to tax? Case for Zambia and Zimbabwe
Using community testimonies, interviews and experiences, this paper will demonstrate the cost of collected and uncollected tax from extractive industries in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Using casework drawn from work under the aegis of Publish What You Pay (PWYP) , this paper will seek to demonstrate the linkages between tax and human rights. It will argue […]
CSR in Cameroon’s Petroleum Sector: Questions of Power and Responsibility
Oil is central to Cameroon’s export-led economy. In its desire to achieve emerging nation status by 2035, intensified natural resource extraction has been positioned as a means of both poverty reduction and economic growth. Yet, there is a lack of inclusive dialogue to pacify potential opposition which undermines the developmental prospects and voices of Cameroon’s […]
The environment is material
Download our one pager here. The need for fiscal transparency in the extractive sector has been well established. If payments are kept hidden from the public, opacity can facilitate corruption, mismanagement and waste – not only will citizens fail to benefit from their resources, some will actively be harmed by extraction. Without being able to […]
PWYP condemns beating of Ilgar Mammadov in Azerbaijan
Publish What You Pay strongly condemns the beating and inhumane treatment of Ilgar Mammadov, member of the Advisory Council of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). Mr Mammadov, who remains unlawfully imprisoned following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, was allegedly beaten by high-level staff in the penitentiary facility on October 16, […]
In pursuit of transparent trading
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 […]
In pursuit of transparent trading in Switzerland
Despite having very few natural resources itself, Switzerland has become the world’s major commodity trading hub for natural resources. With its favourable corporate fiscal regime, the country is very attractive for extractive companies. As major companies have set up their headquarters in the country, 60% of the global trade in metal and 35% of global […]
Switzerland must seize opportunity for commodity trading transparency
Joint press release by NRGI, SwissAid, Berne Declaration and the global coalition PWYP. EITI can also do more to improve visibility into commodity trader payments Berne, October 20, 2015—Switzerland, the world’s leading commodity trading hub, must pave the way for more transparency in natural resource payments. The Swiss government should alter its course and include […]
Towards transparency in Extractives in Chad – applying oil project modelling
Chad has the typical characteristics of a country affected by the “resource curse”, rich in natural resources, poor in development for the majority of the population. In other words, the benefits, mainly from oil, do not trickle down to communities that are, instead often negatively, impacted by extractive activities. In Chad, the national Publish What […]