DAR-ES-SALAAM, 19 OCTOBER 2010.  Ghana has achieved Compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the global standard for improved transparency in the oil, gas and mining sectors. The EITI Board designated Ghana as 'EITI Compliant' at a meeting today in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

EITI Chair Peter Eigen congratulated the Government, companies and civil society organisations that have supported to the process in Ghana:

“The achievement of EITI Compliance status is well deserved and I hope be a spur also for strong management of the oil sector. Ghana was the first country to publish an EITI Report for the mining sector.  It was also the first country to provide data on the payments made to regional levels of government.  These reports have come to provide a reliable and comprehensive account of mining companies payments to government, and of government’s receipt of those funds.”

In order to achieve Compliant status, countries must complete a rigorous, independent assessment of their disclosure and reporting practices. Mongolia and Ghana became the fourth and fifth countries to achieve EITI Compliance, joining Azerbaijan, Liberia and Timor-Leste.

For further information about EITI implementation in Ghana, contact Regional Director Eddie Rich at the EITI International Secretariat.