Big Oil’s To-Do List

Global Witness, an NGO based in the United Kingdom, published these recommendations on how companies operating in Angola could help improve the situation there.

By Brad Amburn

November 17, 2009, 6:48 PM

Oil companies involved in Angola should:

Ensure that, in Angola and in other countries with similar problems of lack of transparency and government accountability, a policy of ‘full transparency’ is adopted.

Establish a formal coalition, which should support IMF attempts to forge transparency and accountability for Angolan Government revenue and expenditure. Specifically, such a coalition should:

1. Immediately undertake a full independent audit of the entire Angolan oil sector, making this a precondition of further investment.

2. The results of the audit must be published, and publicised, in Angola and internationally.

3. Immediately arrange talks with the IMF, the World Bank, U.N. agencies, members of the Angolan Government and representatives of civil society in Angola, the international community and international NGO’s to form a broad alliance for transparency.

4. Demand proof from Sonangol that it is not breaking the terms of concession agreements for Cabinda and elsewhere. The burden should be on Sonangol to prove it is complying with Angolan law, by opening its accounts to public scrutiny.

5. Publicly support the development of Angolan civil society, and insist that the Angolan Government respects its obligations as a signatory to international conventions, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Declare their relationship with equity partner companies. The oil companies should refuse to work with companies involved in the arms trade.

Ensure that oil company social programmes should be independently audited for both financial and social performance, and the results should be published in Angola and internationally.

Immediately declare all payments, such as those deployed for dubious projects such as house reconstruction, scholarships etc.

International oil companies and oil refineries, buying Angolan oil cargoes should insist on audited progress in national transparency, as defined by the IMF.

Source: A Crude Awakening: The Role of the Oil and Banking Industries in Angola’s Civil War and the Plunder of State Assets (London: Global Witness, 1999)