Transparency and Accountability in the Extractive Sector: Assessing the impact of EITI on mining governance in Mali

Abstract

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), launched in 2002, aims to translate natural resource transparency into accountable governance. While widely adopted across resource-rich nations, its capacity to generate substantive governance reform remains a subject of intense academic and policy debate [1]. This article critically interrogates this persistent gap between transparency and accountability through the case of Mali, a long-standing EITI member since 2007 [1] and one of Africa’s largest gold producers. Using a mixed-methods approach that triangulates EITI validation data, international governance indices, and a structured comparison with Ghana, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this study reveals a profound paradox. Mali has achieved notable gains in formal transparency, particularly in mandatory contract disclosure driven by sustained civil society advocacy [2] . However, this progress is strategically decoupled from substantive accountability; Mali continues to exhibit poor governance performance on international indicators  [3], and public perceptions of corruption have deteriorated despite years of EITI compliance [4]. The comparative analysis reveals that the EITI's effectiveness is contingent on pre-existing political will, institutional capacity, and a stable enabling environment factor critically weak in Mali. The article concludes that the EITI should be understood less as a direct driver of reform and more as a powerful diagnostic tool that exposes the underlying political and institutional pathologies constraining good governance in resource-rich states. Policy recommendations focus on strengthening institutional linkages, improving data accessibility, and integrating EITI into broader anti-corruption reforms.