The World Bank Group (WBG) has released its recent publication titled: ‘License To Drill’ to governmental and non-governmental bodies in order to help improve transparency and accountability in the extractive and mineral sectors of the country.
Presenting the book to the government and civil society organizations at a formal ceremony held at World Bank’s country office in Congo Town on Wednesday, October 31, 2018 the Bank’s Senior Financial Sector Specialist and lead author of the book, Cari Votava, said the venture is aimed at helping countries improve background checks on those wanting to obtain licenses in order to carry out concessions in both the natural resource and extractive sectors of the country.
She stated that improving the steps that lead to the issuance of licenses has become a high global development priority due to the extent to which corruption in these sectors has impeded economic development, and contributed to illicit financial flows.
Votava indicated that the publication will be important to Liberia in meeting the obligations of the requirements of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), since it has committed to comply with those obligations.
“We hope the publication can be useful to officials and experts to reduce corruption risks in the natural resource and extractive sectors,” Votava emphasized.
Meanwhile, an official of the World Bank, Daniel Boakye, disclosed that the institution has over the years supported countries to improve transparency and accountability in critical areas in an effort to reduce or keep corruption at the minimum scale by ensuring that resources are
used to effectively promote development initiatives.
He noted that the extractive and mineral industries are critical to the growth and development of every country that is resource dependent.
The World Bank Publication focuses on good practice options to conduct integrity checks on applicants wishing to obtain licenses, which include checks on beneficiary ownership, criminal background and conflict of interest in order to ensure licenses are granted only to those likely to meet high integrity standards in developing a country’s valuable assets.
