Primer: Contract Transparency

Governments and companies should publish contracts and make them readily available online.

KEY MESSAGES

• Contracts represent the agreement between the government and the extraction company about how, when and at what cost the extraction occurs. They represent the “deal” the government gets in exchange for mineral rights.
• In order for citizens, parliamentarians and oversight actors to monitor and analyze the public benefit from contract deals, contracts must be made publicly available.
• Contracts can be disclosed without threat to industry or governments.
• Contract transparency is a growing phenomenon in developed and developing economies as its benefits to all stakeholders are becoming more obvious.