Special topics
On Friday, 1 June in Washington, D.C., the Chairman of Ghana’s Public Interest and Accountability Committee Major Daniel Sowa Ablorh-Quarcoo joins experts from Revenue Watch, Oxfam and Africa Against Poverty to discuss the prospects for strong citizen oversight of Ghana’s emerging oil sector.
The committee, established in September 2011, released its first report last week, assessing Ghana’s compliance with new oil laws and the government’s revenue estimates for 2011 and 2012. While the report has been heralded as “an innovation that sets Ghana’s petroleum revenue management strategy apart,” it remains to be seen if the committee can effectively bring accountability to the country’s oil industry, which is predicted to yield $20 billion over the next 20 years.
Event panelists will examine the opportunities and obstacles facing the committee, and whether Ghana’s approach can serve as a model for its resource-rich neighbors such as Uganda, Kenya, Liberia and Sierra Leone. To date, the committee has lacked resources from the Ghanaian government, and has operated with support from Revenue Watch and GIZ of Germany.
Details on the panel are below. To submit your own questions via Twitter before and during the panel, use hashtag #GhanaOil. This event will also be webcast live at www.ustream.tv/channel/can-oil-and-accountability-mix
Can Oil and Accountability Mix?
Friday, 1 June, 2012
12:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Oxfam America
1100 15th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC
RSVPs required by May 30 to nhailu@OxfamAmerica.org
Learn more at www.oxfamamerica.org/campaigns/extractive-industries/can-oil-and-accountability-mix
