CSOs call for extractive industry transparency law

The Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN) has called for the enactment of the Malawi Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (Mweiti) Bill to promote accountable governance of the country’s mineral, forestry, oil and gas resources.

The network, which comprises 45 civil society organisations (CSOs), made the call as Malawi undergoes its third independent Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (Eiti) validation this month, four years after the Bill was drafted.

Wiskes: We have relevant policies

The call also comes months after governance and industry experts warned that Malawi is losing billions of kwacha through illegal mining, weak oversight and outdated laws.

In a statement, NRJN said enactment of the Bill would strengthen oversight by promoting transparency and accountability among industry players, which are currently largely voluntary.

According to the CSO consortium, Malawi has made genuine progress through its participation in Eiti and the Open Government Partnership. However, as the country moves towards increased investment in the extractive sector, it argues that a voluntary framework is no longer sufficient.

Part of the statement reads: “Its effectiveness depends entirely on the goodwill of the very actors it is meant to regulate.

“A legally-binding Mweiti framework would replace this fragile arrangement with statutory duties, mandatory disclosure and enforceable consequences for non-compliance—the basic hallmarks of the rule of law.”

In a separate interview, mining expert Paul Mvula described the Mweiti Bill as critical because it would compel companies to disclose key information, including operational data such as production figures, tax contributions and government contract terms.

Mvula said the Bill is also in line with the Mines and Minerals Act of 2023, which recognises that minerals and other natural resources belong to the public on behalf of citizens and, therefore, information about them should be disclosed.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Forestry Turnaround Strategy this week, Minister of Natural Resources Patricia Wiskes welcomed policies aimed at strengthening natural resource governance, including Mweiti, but stressed the need to improve their implementation.

Wiskes said that, apart from minerals, there is a serious need to strengthen governance of forestry, oil and gas resources, particularly as 98 percent of Malawians continue to rely on biomass and other traditional energy sources, placing pressure on the country’s forests.

“Malawi’s biggest problem at the moment is not lack of policy because we have relevant policies in place; we have the governing laws. But what we are looking at, most importantly, is the scale of implementation,” Wiskes said.

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