Corporate Law and Corporate Governance

2.4 Revenue Transparency [page 9]

[T]he NAP consultations identified several challenges that affect revenue transparency:

1. Corruption in the process of revenue collection and the management of public revenue. Stakeholders identified corruption in the business licensing process, the process of tax collection and public procurement attributed to both public and private sector actors.
2. Lack of disclosure of contracts particularly those that have significant economic and social consequences.
3. Lack of transparency in administration and management of revenues from the exploitation of natural resources including from mining and oil and gas activities.
4. The absence of legal beneficial ownership disclosure aids the veil of secrecy in determining who owns and controls business entities inhibiting law enforcement’s ability to ‘follow the money’.

CHAPTER THREE: POLICY ACTIONS

3.1. Pillar 1: The State Duty to Protect

Policy Actions [Page 21]

The Government will:

x.    Finalise the development of regulations to the Access to Information Act to facilitate disclosure of contracts, including those that have a significant economic and social impact in the country and join the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) for the facilitation of revenue transparency;

3.2. Pillar 2: Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights

Policy Actions [Page 18-19]

b) Human Rights Policy commitments

The Government will:

i.     Require businesses to adopt human rights policies, including taking measures to ensure their operations respect human rights, including by providing access to a remedy for human rights violations;

d) Reporting:

Enforce the requirement for businesses to prepare non-financial reports in line with the Companies Act, 2015, and encourage proactive disclosure of their impacts on human rights and the mitigation measures they are taking in this regard.