USA Africa Dialogue Series - The 2013 Resource Governance Index

The Resource Governance Index (RGI) measures the quality of governance in the oil, gas and mining sectors of 58 countries. These nations produce 85 percent of the world's petroleum, 90 percent of diamonds and 80 percent of copper, generating trillions of dollars in annual profits. The future of these countries depends on how well they manage their oil, gas and minerals.

The RGI scores and ranks the countries, relying on a detailed questionnaire completed by researchers with expertise in the extractive industries. The Index assesses the quality of four key governance components: Institutional and Legal Setting; Reporting Practices; Safeguards and Quality Controls; and Enabling Environment. It also includes information on three special mechanisms used commonly to govern oil, gas and minerals - state-owned companies, natural resource funds and subnational revenue transfers.

The Index finds that only 11 of the countries - less than 20 percent - have satisfactory standards of transparency and accountability. In the rest, the public lacks fundamental information about the oil, gas and mining sector. Even countries with generally satisfactory standards exhibit weaknesses in some dimensions. There is a major governance deficit in natural resources around the world, and the deficit is largest in the most resource-dependent countries, where nearly half a billion people live in poverty despite that resource wealth. Fortunately, some countries, including several emerging economies, show that satisfactory performance in resource governance is possible.