Murtala Mohamed Kamara , AfricaNews reporter in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Most countries in West Africa that are blessed with abundant mineral resources lack a strategy to manage their resources, a recent report said. The West Africa Resource Watch (WARW) said billions of dollars from oil, gas and mining revenues go missing, leaving the population depend heavily on aid.
The report which was primarily focused on resource management in seven West African countries was released on Thursday. Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Sierra Leone were gauge by the report.
"None [of the countries] has a long-term and nationally shared vision for moving the country from where it is now to where citizens desire to be and with the role of extractives in that scheme spelt out," the report said.
"None [of the countries] has a long-term and nationally shared vision for moving the country from where it is now to where citizens desire to be and with the role of extractives in that scheme spelt out," the report said whiles pointing out that these resources have not transformed the lives of the citizens in those countries instead elicit violence and war especially in Sierra Leone and Niger.
"In Africa, anywhere natural resources are found in large commercial quantities people suffer and the country is locked in under-development," a WARW background paper said.
"Africa's vast natural resources have devastated the continent, fuelling conflicts, corruption and bad governance," according to the humanitarian news agency IRIN.
Furthermore, the study reveal that none of the countries has a long-term vision of extractive resources in the national economy, each lacks a comprehensive strategy to manage its natural resources; in most of the countries civil society participation and influence have been minimal; and restrictive laws and lack of resources block the media from playing a watchdog role.
The WARW is established by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) to provide information, training and policy advice- for policymakers and citizens alike - to foster sound and equitable use of natural resource revenues.
A representative for OSIWA Tanko told IRIN governance is paramount. "If we can tackle the issue of governance on the African continent a lot of these issues tied to natural resource management will be adequately addressed," she told IRIN.
"We really need a watch [mechanism] like this...and to let them [leaders] know we are watching."
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