Business
Mining the green gold of Ethiopia’s Danakil Region
In March, three years after its first application, Ethiopia was accepted as an EITI candidate despite the reservations of some board members and vociferous opposition from international organizations like Human Rights Watch. There are concerns that the legal and political climate for civil society organizations will prevent them from being fully involved in industry oversight; a key requirement of the EITI process.
But Ethiopia has been working to build the capacity of local organizations, says Kirsten Hund, senior mining specialist at the World Bank, which has been assisting Ethiopia with the preparation of its EITI application. She says membership is important for the sustainability of the sector.
She concluded, “EITI is not going to solve all the problems in the extractives industry but I think it is a very good way forward, especially because the Ethiopians are starting the process at the very beginning of the take-off of their minerals industry. They are working on a legal mechanism to enforce EITI implementation.”
