Sir, – I am puzzled as to why the Government is trying to water down or scupper the EU legislation on mining transparency.
Most of the recent and current wars in Africa are about resources and the use of the proceeds of those resources. This legislation will require companies to disclose how much they are paying to African governments for the concessions and thus allow the citizens of those countries to question their own governments as to where the money is going.
Africa is not short of resources, it is short of good governance. The misappropriation of the proceeds from extractive industries has been the major source of corruption and political instability in Africa. Hundreds of billions of euros flow into Africa every year, very little of it trickles down to the ordinary person.
Now that the EU is at last taking action, our Government is raising all sorts of objections and trying to delay the measure. Why? – Yours, etc,