This past month, in light of the challenges posed by the pandemic, RDF worked with clients across the globe in transferring the systems to cloud-based servers to facilitate working from home. In Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, RDF systems are now online, allowing staff to access the systems remotely from home. In addition, Sierra Leone has completed the development of valuations module on MCAS, allowing the The Directorate of Precious Minerals Trading (PMT) to now process the mineral valuations using the MCAS system, and to issue the Kimberly Certificate. A significant milestone was also reached in Ghana, with 18 Large Scale Mining Companies now being able to submit their reports online. In this month’s newsletter, we will be featuring RDF’s work in Senegal with EITI mainstreaming.
Highlighs from Senegal
Since December 2019, with support from the World Bank, RDF has been working in close collaboration with Senegal for EITI mainstreaming through the implementation of two systems: RD FUSION and RD GovIn. Earlier in 2019, a feasibility study conducted by RDF, addressed the challenges in revenue data disclosure across involved government institutions and private stakeholders. Recommendations included the digitization of cross-institutional data sharing procedures, and the implementation of an online platform to facilitate yearly EITI declarations submitted by companies.
The RD Fusion system went live in March 2020. To date, despite the unforeseen restrictions placed in Senegal due to the outbreak of COVID-19, 7 administrations are successfully using the platform to share both contextual and revenue data, relating to the extractive industry sector of Senegal. Each week, RD Fusion receives information from Customs, the Tax Administration, and the Treasury – all three of which have effectively connected their information systems to RD Fusion. The system allows them to share data automatically between the institutions. Other agencies connected to the system are the Ministry of Mines, the Social Security Administration, the Pensions Management Institute and the Ministry of Environment, who share the data by uploading them into RD Fusion system.
Similarly, companies have started using RDF’s GovIn to submit their EITI declarations for 2019. The system went live in April, and over the course of the month, company accountants received online presentations relating to the various functionalities of the platform. The RDF project team remains fully available on a daily basis, assisting users as they get familiarized with both systems.
RD Fusion is also able to cross-check statistics. Once the declaration period is complete, GovIn declarations will be automatically transferred to Fusion, where EITI will be able to reconcile data incoming from administrations with company submitted information.
Aside from the clear benefit that both systems bring in facilitating EITI-Senegal’s mandate of promoting an open and responsible extractive industry sector in the country, RD Fusion is also key in eliminating the barriers and delays in data sharing across administrations. A full appropriation of the system over time will benefit all stakeholders, given many compliance processes is highly dependent on data shared across the institutions involved in monitoring and managing the extractive industry sector in Senegal.
