Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

CENTAL, in partnership with LEITI, today, Thursday, May 21, 2026, organized a one-day capacity-building workshop to strengthen LEITI staff competencies in areas critical to transparency and accountability. The training focused on integrity-building, anti-corruption laws, information compliance, and resource governance, which are key pillars for enhancing LEITI’s mandate to promote openness in Liberia’s extractive sector. Today’s capacity building aims to facilitate strategic discussions on anti-corruption and transparency as best practices to enhance service delivery and improve Information sharing between public officials and citizens, thereby building trust in the state's governance system.

The workshop brought together relevant stakeholders from key government institutions, such as the Witness Protection Agency and the Independent Information Commission (IIC), who delivered presentations on the Witness Protection Act 2021, the Whistleblowers Act, and the Access to Information and Compliance Mechanism, respectively. The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) made presentations on Understanding Anti-Corruption Reforms, its Impacts and Manifestations, and on the relevance of the CENTAL Corruption Case Tracker to the fight against corruption. The LEITI Secretariat presented on key anti-corruption activities it is undertaking in line with the 2023 EITI Standard.

The one-day workshop successfully equipped LEITI staff with essential knowledge and skills to strengthen transparency, accountability, and integrity in Liberia’s extractive sector. LEITI and CENTAL agreed to maintain a stronger collaboration between the two entities, share information on corruption-related activities in the extractive sector, and sign a Memorandum of Understanding to guide their collaboration.

The workshop ended with the certification of the LEITI Secretariat staff.

From Wednesday to Friday this week, the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) convened a series of consultation workshops with stakeholders outside the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) to finalize its work plan for fiscal year 2026. These engagements were designed to broaden participation in developing the Secretariat’s workplan activities and to ensure that perspectives from a wider range of actors are incorporated into LEITI’s 2026 workplan. The secretariat considers this essential to strengthening transparency and accountability efforts within the extractive sector. The consultations brought together representatives from civil society organizations, the private sector, and relevant government ministries, agencies, and commissions.

Some of the participating institutions included the General Auditing Commission, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, the Central Bank of Liberia, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Liberia Maritime Authority, the National Investment Commission, Integrity Watch-Liberia, Accountability Lab, Rice and Rights, Women NGO Secretariat, Hummingbirds, Atlantic Resource, Akewa, amongst others. Discussions focused on strengthening collaboration, identifying challenges, and exploring opportunities to improve the governance of natural resources. By engaging these stakeholders, LEITI sought to enhance inclusivity, foster mutual understanding, and build consensus around key issues affecting the extractive industries.

Some key inputs or recommendations outlined by participants are:

•Simplification of Data and Reports: Ensure reports are accessible and easy to understand.
•Mass Awareness Campaigns: Conduct outreach across all fifteen counties, utilizing info graphics, jingles, and radio programs.
•Community Radio Partnerships: Collaborate with the Association of Liberia Community Radio (ALICOR) to empower rural radio stations in disseminating information, including translations into local dialects and Liberian Koloqua (Liberia Pidgin).
•Social Media Engagement: Publish key findings of LEITI reports on social media platforms to broaden reach. Create an app to make reporting data more accessible.
•Beneficial Ownership Awareness: Increase public awareness on beneficial ownership and, where possible, collect Beneficial Ownership Data for ASM. Participants believe that Politically Exposed Persons mostly control this sector,
•Extractive Reporter Award: Establish an award initiative to recognize excellence in extractive sector reporting during the Press Union of Liberia annual award ceremony, amongst others.
•Working with the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission to finalize a ToR for a Consultant to conduct a risk assessment of the mining sector to be carried out by the Commission and the development of an MoU between the LEITI and the LACC.
These suggestions will be incorporated into the draft work plan and taken to the MSG for approval during its next sitting in April.