"The President of the Republic, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, issued today [Thursday] an order appointing Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, to cumulatively exercise the functions of President of the National Coordination Committee of the EITI," reads a statement sent to Lusa.
"Angola has decided to join the EITI in order to provide maximum transparency to the process of exploration of mineral resources and hydrocarbons, in view of its vast potential in this field," the text states, emphasizing that "it is important that everyone is aware of the processes of their exploration and the process of managing the corresponding revenues.
The EITI is an organization based in Oslo, Norway, which ensures a set of information regarding the process of extraction, distribution and marketing of natural resources, through the voluntary membership of the countries, contributing to transparency and dissemination of information.
"With the existence of the National EITI Coordination Committee, the country expressly assumes the political will to strengthen the national instruments of good governance, which include accountability to citizens so that they have access to the information inherent to the revenues that come from the extractive industry," adds the communiqué, which concludes that this step "goes towards continuously improving the business environment and the investment climate in these important sectors of the national economy.
In a statement to Lusa in February, the president of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) had lamented the fact that Angola had not yet joined, stressing on that occasion that membership could avoid those described in the documents released at the end of last year and which became known as 'Luanda Leaks'.
"Recent developments in the Luanda Leaks case suggest that the implementation of EITI standards can help Angola deal with the persistent governance challenges in its extractive sector," said Helen Clark.
Recalling that the opacity in the oil industry in Angola was precisely one of the reasons for the creation of the EITI 20 years ago, she noted that already 52 countries have joined this initiative, but regretted that "Angola was never one of the members.
"Through governance reforms and adherence to EITI principles, Angola could ensure that resources make a greater contribution to the challenges of development of the country," she said.
The EITI guarantees a set of information regarding the process of extraction, distribution and marketing of natural resources, through voluntary membership of the countries.
"Adherence to EITI principles requires disclosure of the owners of the extractive companies, including politically exposed persons, and also requires the transparent management of public companies and revenues from this industry," concluded the president.
