VZCZCXRO5164
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0029/01 0221210
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221209Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0042
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000029 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPARTMENT FOR EEB/IFD/OMA BRIANA SAUNDERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN EPET ECON PGOV PREL IV
SUBJECT: Ivoirian Budget Transparency and the Extractive Industries 
Transparency Initiative 
 
REF: (A) STATE 1923; (B) ABIDJAN 213 
 
¶1.  (SBU) In response to ref A request, post reports the following: 
 
 
 
--The central government of Cote d'Ivoire currently receives 
funding through the FY 2010 Department of State, Foreign 
 
Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (SFOAA) as part 
of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 
 
(PEPFAR). 
 
 
 
--The GOCI makes its annual budget available to the public at the 
Ministry of Finance website, www.finances.gouv.ci. 
 
Additionally, a hard copy of the budget document is readily 
available from the Ministry of Finance upon request. 
 
 
 
--The published budget includes a reasonable level of detail on 
GOCI income and expenditures. 
 
 
 
--Post is not convinced the GOCI includes all petroleum revenue in 
the public budget.  Reliable sources have indicated to 
 
 post that the GOCI substantially understates oil production in its 
official reports. 
 
 
 
--Post, working in conjunction with other donor countries and 
international financial institutions, has strongly encouraged 
 
the GOCI to be more transparent in its reporting of petroleum 
revenue.  Following post's submission of last year's report 
 
on budget transparency (ref B) and the approval of a waiver for 
Cote d'Ivoire, post has continued to demonstrate to 
 
Ivoirian officials the USG's keen interest in the transparency of 
revenue from extractive industries, and in particular in 
 
the GOCI's continued work on the Extractive Industries Transparency 
Initiative (EITI). 
 
 
 
--Cote d'Ivoire became an EITI candidate country in May 2008, 
following creation of the country's EITI National Committee. 
 
The GOCI has stated its commitment to meeting the remaining 
indicators in the EITI validation framework.  In Cote 
 
d'Ivoire's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), approved 
by the IMF Board in March 2009, the GOCI agreed to 
 
prepare EITI-compliant reports for oil and gas extraction on a 
regular basis.  The triggers for Cote d'Ivoire's Enhanced 
 
Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point include 
"[r]egular public reporting of payments to, and revenues 
 
received by, the government for the extractive industries (mining, 
oil and gas) in line with the EITI criteria, with a 
 
recent annual report during at least the year immediately preceding 
the completion point." 
 
 
 
--In early January the Hart Group, hired by the GOCI (with World 
Bank assistance), completed the final draft of an EITI 
 
report covering the Ivoirian hydrocarbon sector for the years 2006 
and 2007--the first EITI report ever produced on Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
ABIDJAN 00000029  002 OF 002 
 
 
Members of the National EITI Committee received the report on 
January 12, and committee members expect to consider the 
 
document formally before the end of January.  The report will then 
undergo the EITI validation process.  It appears that 
 
the GOCI may be able to meet the May 2010 deadline for EITI 
validation. 
 
 
 
--Should a waiver be required this year, post recommends continuing 
efforts to encourage GOCI compliance with the EITI- 
 
related requirements in Cote d'Ivoire's IMF/HIPC program. 
NESBITT