Niger

Civil society members in Niger return to the EITI process

September 28th 2009 - 6:50PM ... Anders Tunold Kråkenes

On 28 September 2009, the members of civil society have decided to return to work with the EITI national committee in Niger. This decision follows the provisional release of Marou Amadou and Wada Maman, two civil society members in Niger. The civil society representatives on the committee in Niger had suspended their participation in the EITI process on 16 August 2009 after incidents of harassment and intimidation had occured against civil society activists campaigning for good governance and transparency in Niger.

Niger

March 9th 2010 - 5:57PM ... Carole Isik
Candidate country

Overview of the Extractive Industries

The Republic of Niger has large reserves of uranium and in 2003 was the fourth largest producer in the world. Although uranium exports accounted for 62% of exports by value and contributed 4.3% of government revenue in 2003, uranium-mining is a declining sector. Gold mining has been traditionally done at small scale, yet gold production started in Niger's first commercial mine at Samira in late 2004. Gold contribution to the economy remains modest. In addition, exploration for oil is underway, with indicated reserves of around 300 million barrels.

Status of EITI Implementation

Niger was accepted as a Candidate Country on 27 September 2007. It now has until 9 March 2010 to undertake Validation.

On 11 March 2005 Niger's Prime Minister Hama Amadou announced that the Council of Ministers had declared its endorsement of the EITI principles. Several launch workshops were held between 5 and 7 September 2006, gathering representatives from international institutions, companies and civil society organizations.

The workshops concluded with a declaration which reiterates the adhesion of the three partners (government, civil society and extractives industries) to the principles and criteria of EITI and sets out the main configuration of the institutional structure and the key points of the implementation plan.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Mines met French President Sarkozy and EITI Chairman Peter Eigen at an EITI Roundtable in Niamey on 27 March 2009.

The first EITI report was approved by the multi-stakeholder group in October 2009. The Validation process is underway. The final selection of the Validator is expected for March 2010.

Niger has requested an extension to their Validation deadline which will be considered by the International EITI Board when it meets 15-16 April.

Governance of EITI implementation

The Committee for National Concertation is the multi-stakeholder group in charge of implementation and follow up of the EITI in Niger. It is subdivided into three sub-committees: for statistics and audits, for capacity building and for communication. After the publication of a Ministerial Decree the EITI Niger Permanent Secretariat acquired management autonomy. Mr Mohamed Abdoulahi, Minister of Mines and Energy, leads the EITI multi-stakeholder group. Mr. Abdoul Aziz Askia is the Permanent Secretary and Coordinator and serves as its focal point.

EITI Niger Focal Point

Askia Abdoul Aziz
Permanent Secretary
National Committee of the EITI Niger
Email: az_askia [at] yahoo [dot] fr

Companies operating*

Oil & gas companies: CNPC (China), SIPEX Sonatrach (Algérie)

Mining companies: SOMAIR (partially owned by Areva*), COMINAK (filiales d'AREVA*), SOMINA (filiale Chine), SML (filiale Semafo)

* Note: Company list based on EITI research and is not conclusive

Further information about the status of EITI implementation in Niger can be provided by Regional Director Tim Bittiger at the EITI International Secretariat.

Stalled EITI process in Niger

August 20th 2009 - 8:32AM ... Anders Tunold Kråkenes

The civil society representatives of the multi-stakeholder group in Niger suspended on 16 August their participation in the EITI process until further notice.