TEXT OF SPEECH
DELIVERED BY MR. MONDAY OSASAH,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
AFRICAN CENTRE FOR LEADERSHIP, STRATEGY & DEVELOPMENT (CENTRE LSD),
AT A ONE-DAY POLICY DIALOGUE AND PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH REPORT ON WEST AFRICAN REGIONAL LAWS AND POLICIES ON NATURAL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE: LESSONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NIGERIA, GHANA, MALI, CÔTE D’IVOIRE, BURKINA FASO, AND THE GAMBIA,
AT OCEAN BAY RESORT, CAPE POINT, BAKAU, THE GAMBIA, NOVEMBER 1, 2024.
Protocol
On behalf of the management and staff of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), I welcome you to this one-day policy dialogue and public presentation of our research report on West African regional laws and policies on natural resource governance.
We are excited to share our findings and recommendations with you, and we are confident that this report will provide valuable insights for policymakers, advocates, and private sector organizations.
Our organization is a leading national non-governmental organization (NGO) and think tank in Nigeria, registered to build strategic leadership for sustainable development in Africa. Our mission is to work with forces of positive change to empower citizens to transform society, and we carry out our programs through research, capacity building, advocacy, and campaigns built on the principle of catalytic partnership and rights-based approaches to programming.
This policy dialogue and public presentation of our report is a major part of the implementation of our BUILD grant from the Ford Foundation. We are grateful for their support, and this report will define many other activities that we will carry out to advance our work on issues of natural resource governance in Nigeria, The Gambia, and other West African countries.
As you may be aware, the importance of laws and policies in the governance of natural resources cannot be overemphasized. Effective laws and policies can prevent over-exploitation and degradation of resources, ensure fair distribution of benefits and costs, support sustainable development and poverty reduction, protect human rights and community interests, and promote good governance and accountability.
Our report provides a comprehensive understanding of West Africa’s laws and policies governing natural resource management, and we believe that it will offer valuable insights for stakeholders to better grasp the complexities of natural resource management and take informed action to address pressing concerns that hinder effective governance.
We commend the Government of The Gambia for taking steps towards addressing these challenges, and we encourage stakeholders to leverage this report to support the government in driving positive change in the sector. By working together, we can promote transparency, prevent corruption, ensure accountability, and support sustainable development and poverty reduction in West Africa’s extractive sector.
Thank you again for joining us today, and we wish you all a very fruitful deliberation.
