1. The Natural Resources Information Exchange – NRIE
Claudine Sigam
Project Coordinator
Special Unit on Commodities
United Nations Conference Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Development of Mineral Resources
Technical Meeting
First Meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of the
Development of Mining Resources
13 – 15 December 2010

2. Content What is NRIE & Expected results The Stakeholders
Context
What is NRIE & Expected results
The Stakeholders
Implementation & Way forward
Recommendation

3. Situation in most of the African countries compared to the rest of the world, a chaotic situation…
Request by African countries during the 11th and 12th UNCTAD’s Annual Oil, Gas and Mines Conference
UNCTAD survey responded to by 82% of African Union member States
Call for an innovative approach to natural resources management

4. CONTEXT
The majority of population in most of the mineral resource rich African countries remain poor despite numerours development initiatives
A chaotic situation despite the existence of numerous database
An urgent need to step up innovative actions to trigger an endogenous development process
The NRIE is designed to respond to the needs expressed by some African countries and formalized in a resolution adopted during the Ministerial Roundtable of UNCTAD’s13th Conference in Mali in 2009

5. What is NRIE ?
(Art 8) « Call on UNCTAD to …….ensure that the platform is gradually extended…. to include infrastructures (physical and financial), and related operating, processing , storage techniques and transportation means »
African decision makers believe that progress in geographical information could provide tools for more efficiency to all the stakeholders and promote major synergies
The NRIE to become a tool for governance
Provide all the stakeholders (operators, policy makers, community, Academia, media, civil society, etc), with reliable and updated information on existing potential (online metadata, etc)
Render more transparent modalities for capturing value from the natural resource exploitation
Articulate alternatives and underlying political stakes imbedded in organizational, regulatory and technical choices

6. What is NRIE ?

7. Expected Results
Knowledge-driven African mining sector as recommended by the Africa Mining Vision
Highlight social, economical and environmental impacts of natural resources exploitation, including geo localization and visualization of the evolution (Follow up, evaluation, video)
Boost regional integration without lost of sovereignity (A common area & private national spaces)
Costs and Risks reduction for potential investors
Driving force in reducing the numerical divide
Preservation of scientific heritage

8. NRIE – STAKEHOLDER ROLE
Partnerships and Cooperation agreements
Linkages between the academia, the industry and host country
Governance
Seminars & Training workshops
Dissemination of information to relevant States and operators
Identification of spin off projects that generate relevant data
Host metadata backup
UNCTAD
Overall Coordination
Consensus building
Capacity Building
Promotion of NRIE & Synergies with existing related Programs
Follow up, Monitoring & Evaluation

9. NRIE – STAKEHOLDER ROLE
ITU
Strategic Partner
Coordination for technology identification & strategy formulation
Coordination among technology developers, and other stakeholders such as universities

10. NRIE – STAKEHOLDER ROLE
HOST COUNTRY
Commitment to set up a National Data Repository (Data & Metadata)
Commitment to agree on technical standards applicable at regional level
Data retrieval
Facilitation of data digitalization
Elaboration of regional securitization systems of archived data
Committee for Selective diffusion of information
Hosting of metadata backup (regional)
Mobilization of national stakeholders
Stimulate ICT oriented jobs

11. NRIE – STAKEHOLDER ROLE
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Training and capacity building of locals in collaboration with UNCTAD and relevant partners
Quality control
Setting up Web interface for virtual exchange
Architecture specifications
Standards and format specifications for data and Meta data
Digitalization of Data
Cataloguing of Metadata
Validation of data quality
Maintenance of Data Bank

12. Host governments STAKEHOLDERS OUTCOMES BENEFICIARIES
Facilitators (UNCTAD & ITU)
Data providers (Host governments, Industries
Service Providers (Academia, locals, etc)
Beneficiaries
Information asymmetries
Transparency & Governance
Jobs creation /digital dividend
Investments
Regional integration
Knowledge driven mining sector
Host governments
Local communities / civil society
Industries
Universities

13. IMPLEMENTATION Two experts meeting held (Cotonou, Geneva)
Six pilot countries selected and national focal points appointed (Benin, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria)
MOU and Letters of Agreement signed between UNCTAD, ITU and the six pilot countries

14. THE WAY FORWARD
A prototype under construction to be presented in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2011 during the workshop on the NRIE organizational framework and a special event for resource mobilization
A workshop on NRIE capacity building programme to be held in Mozambique the second quarter of 2011
NRIE Coordinating body underway
Evaluation of NRIE implementation during UNCTAD 15th Oil, Gas and Mines, Trade and Finance Conference to be held in November 2011 in Conakry, Guinea

15. RECOMMENDATIONS
Promote the NRIE model among ACP member States to highlight the impact of resource exploitation on wealth creation for the State and the population, as well as preservation of the environment
Donor support for NRIE project (bilateral, multilateral, private sector, PPP, foundation etc.)
Involve host countries’ Academia in the project ownership
Partnership with UNCTAD on the NRIE initiative: The ACP Secretariat to support the production of metadata and host the metadata backup for ACP member States