AfricaFocus Bulletins with Material on Politics and Human Rights April 19, 2021 Confronting Global Apartheid Demands Global Solidarity http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/ga2104.php
The COVID-19 pandemic has both revealed and deepened structural
inequalities around the world. Nearly every country has been hit by
economic downturn, but the impacts are unevenly felt. Within and
across countries, the people who have suffered most are those already
disadvantaged by race, class, gender, or place of birth, reflecting
the harsh inequality that has characterized our world for centuries. March 8, 2021 USA/Global: Taxing the Tech Giants http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/dig2103.php
How should we determine the corporate tax a big tech company should
Transparency cookies are in the oven
May 19, 2017
The tools to monitor Lebanon’s hoped for oil and gas sector are nearly on the workbench. In January, the government committed itself to joining a global transparency initiative, and in March, a draft law promoting the future sector’s transparency was finally shown to the public. Taken together, they could help Lebanon build a clean oil and gas industry.
But, the draft law is no longer being billed as an anti-corruption bill. Instead, the law, under preparation for at least the past two years, is now being touted as legislation to support transparency in the petroleum sector. The name change can be likened to a marketing tool – the word corruption was in the law’s title, it would suggest that there is a battle to wage, and that the sector is already dirty. Pitched differently, as promoting transparency, represents a glass-half full approach – it both sounds prettier and presents a better image.
NEITI seeks new approach to attract investments to petroleum industry
On
By Obas Esiedesa
THE new Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji has said that the agency is offering a new approach to ensure that fresh investments are attracted to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
NEITI in a statement by its Head, Communications and Advocacy, Mrs. Obiageli Onuorah on Sunday said Dr. Orji stated this during consultative meetings with leading Civil Society Organizations and a forum of oil, gas and mining companies in the extractive sector in Nigeria.
Orji called for closer collaboration and partnership with the civil society, oil, gas and mining companies towards the implementation of ongoing reforms in the extractive industry in Nigeria.
Woodside forced to change tack
Woodside, Australia’s largest oil and gas company with a license to drill for natural gas in the Rakhine Basin, has felt the pressure of community protests and changed tack.
Following the February 1 coup, Woodside initially said their “drilling campaign remains on schedule”. Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman told
Energy News Bulletin, “It’s not up to us to judge the veracity of grievances [the military] have around the previous election process.”
In response to the vehement backlash to these comments, Coleman released a media statement on February 19, which said: “I regret that I made some remarks in a media interview that have been interpreted as condoning what has occurred in Myanmar.”
Keisyah Aprilia/BenarNews
Risna recounted scrambling to save herself when dirt and rocks came tumbling into a 49-foot deep pit where she and other residents were mining for gold in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province on Feb. 24.
Seven people were killed and dozens more survived that landslide at the illegal mining site in Buranga, a village in Parigi Moutong regency, rescue officials had said.
“We the panners scrambled. Some managed to climb to the top but some were buried,” Risna, a 36-year-old woman who goes by one name, told BenarNews.
The deadly accident underscores the dangers of small-scale mining activities for gold and other metals at more than 8,600 sites across the Indonesian archipelago, where dozens of people die every year, mostly during landslides, according to officials.