Beyond Information Disclosure to Achieve Accountability in the Extractive Sector

Abstract

Corruption through opaque public contracts costs Africa billions of revenue loss annually. Initiatives around the world have consequently concentrated on information disclosure (ID) as a means to address this problem. But under what conditions does ID work to promote accountability in the extractive sector, where revenue management has long been a major cause of conflict? Research on Mozambique from the Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) research programme has found that there has to be a clear link between ID and government reputation (and potential fall from power), for accountability to be possible. This has major implications for the strategies of ID supporters.