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2015 Natural Resource Governance Institute Conference

25 June–26 June 2015

  • Conference

  • Starting 1:30PM

  • Ending 1:30PM EDT

  • Online

  • Applications closed

This year, the NRGI conference focused on the implications of falling commodity prices, bringing together policy makers, practitioners, academics and other leading experts (including many from developing countries) to discuss the salient policy and governance challenges and the latest analysis on these issues. The conference provided a forum for highly interactive debate, showcasing new thinking, policy experience and emerging practice.

The conference, hosted at the University of Oxford’s St. Catherine’s College in partnership with the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies (OxCarre), included keynote addresses, high-level panels and various plenary and parallel sessions on the main theme. Additionally, parts of the conference were webcast live to allow a global audience to take part in the debate. Videos of those sessions can be viewed below. Presentations from the conference will also be posted below shortly.

The hashtag for the conference was #resourcegov.

 


 

Conference program

Thursday, 25 June

9.30-11.00

Welcome and opening plenary
featuring:

  • Prof. Sir Paul Collier, Oxford University
  • Dr. Daniel Kaufmann, President, NRGI
  • Prof. Ngaire Woods, Dean, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
  • Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico; Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

11.30-13.00

Challenges and Opportunities of the Fall in Oil Prices for Nigeria and Ghana
featuring:

  • Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, former Minister of Finance, Ghana; former Governor, Bank of Ghana
  • Dr. Akoto Osei, Member of Parliament, Ghana; ranking member, finance committee; former Minister of Finance
  • Prof. Charles Soludo, former Natural Resource Charter Technical Advisory Group member; former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
  • Odein Ajumogobia, former Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Nigeria
  • Adrienne Klasa, This is Africa (Financial Times)

11.30-13.00

Diversifying the Economy: Has the Extractives Growth Engine Run Out of Fuel (Session was not webcast/recorded.)
featuring:

  • Prof. Tony Venables, Director, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies
  • Dr. Mark Henstridge, Chief Economist, Oxford Policy Management [slides]
  • Mr. Kwabena Oku-Afari, Director of the Real Sector Ministry of Finance, Ghana
  • Jaako Koorushy, Executive Director, Goldman Sachs

14.00-15.30

When Governance Goes Wrong: Is Corruption Easier to Fix When Prices Are Low? (Session was not webcast/recorded.)
featuring:

  • Faisal Basri, former head of Oil and Gas Governance Reform Team (Indonesia); Professor of Economics and Political Economy, University of Indonesia
  • Tom Burgis, Investigations Correspondent, Financial Times; author of The Looting Machine (2015)
  • Dr. Peter Eigen, Founder, Transparency International
  • Dr. Alexandra Gillies, Director of Governance Programs, NRGI
  • Dr. Ahmed Jehani, former Minister of Rehabilitation, Stabilisation and Reconstruction, Libya
  • Nuhu Ribadu, anti-corruption expert; politician; former chair, Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

14.00-15.30

The Super Cycle in Latin America: Its Legacy and the Emerging Agenda
featuring:

  • Fabio Velásquez, Foro Nacional por Colombia (Colombia)
  • Francisco Cravioto, FUNDAR (Mexico)
  • Armando Mendoza, OXFAM (Peru) [slides]
  • Humberto Campodonico, NRGI Advisory Board

16.00-17.30

Africa's Experiences and Challenges Managing the Petroleum Sector: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective
featuring:

  • Egil Magne Gloppen, Director of Commercial Affairs, Statoil
  • Sheila Khama, Director, African Natural Resources Centre, African Development Bank
  • Dr. Keith Myers, Managing Partner, Richmond Energy Partners Ltd. (UK)
  • Summaya Athmani, Chief Executive Officer, National Oil Corporation of Kenya
  • Zainab Ahmed, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

16.00-17.30

Open Data and the Impact of Resource Wealth (Session was not webcast/recorded.)
featuring:

  • Dr. Justin Sandefur, Research Fellow, Center for Global Development
  • Dr. Fernando Aragon, Simon Fraser University [slides]
  • Tim Davies, Co-Director, Open Data Services [slides]
  • Prof. Michael Ross, University of California Los Angeles
  • Dr. Jim Cust, Director of Research and Data, NRGI
Friday, 26 June

9.00-10.30

How Do Investors Respond to Weaknesses in Governance in the Downturn? (Session was not webcast/recorded.)
featuring:

  • Lisa Sachs, Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
  • Dr. Jim Cust, Director of Research and Data, NRGI [slides]
  • Sophie Durham, Senior Associate, Critical Resource (UK) [slides]
  • Amar Inamdar, Deal Delivery and New Ventures, Shell

9.00-10.30

Strategies for Managing Shrinking Resource Revenues
featuring:

  • Hon. Amarjargal, former Prime Minister; Member of Parliament, Mongolia
  • Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Ghana [slides]
  • Dr. Albert Zeufack, Sector Manager, World Bank
  • Andrew Bauer, Senior Economic Analyst, NRGI

11.00-12.30

Navigating Precarious Environments to Anchor Extractive Industries Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (Session was not webcast/recorded.)
featuring:

  • Patricia Karam, Director, Middle East and North Africa, NRGI
  • Hassan Mneimneh, MENA Analyst and Principal, Middle East Alternatives
  • Peter Rundell, former Deputy Head of Mission at EUBAM Libya; Senior Adviser, Department for International Development (UK)
  • Alia Moubayed, Director, Senior Economist and Head of Research, Barclays
  • Sami Atallah, Director, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
  • Mutaz Aneizi, Deputy Director, National Development Economic Board of Libya

11.00-12.30

Innovative Subnational Responses to Low Commodity Prices
featuring:

  • Dr. Cielo Magno, Coordinator, Bantay Kita (Philippines) [slides]
  • Ajisatria Suleiman, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Consilium Law and Public Policy (Indonesia) [slides]
  • Zainab Ahmed, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [slides]
  • Fabio Velásquez, Foro Nacional por Colombia
  • Varsha Venugopal, Subnational Capacity Development Officer, NRGI

13.30-15.00

Reporting Lower Revenues: Updates from the Front Lines of Transparency (Session was not webcast/recorded.)
featuring:

  • Jonathan Atkinson, Extractives Adviser, Department for International Development (UK)
  • Lesley Coldham, Group Public Affairs Manager, Tullow Oil
  • Michael Jarvis, Global Lead, Extractives Governance, World Bank
  • Eddie Rich, Deputy Head and Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East, EITI International Secretariat
  • Joseph Williams, Senior Advocacy Officer, NRGI [slides]

13.30-15.00

Race to the Bottom? How the Price Drop is Impacting Fiscal and Contract Terms
featuring:

  • Philip Daniel, Chair, Advisory Board, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies
  • Anthony Paul, Principal Consultant, Association of Caribbean Energy Specialists
  • Dr. Carole Nakhle, Director, Crystol Energy (UK)
  • Satya Widya Yudha, Vice Chairman of Energy and Environment Commission, House of Representatives, Indonesia
  • Salli A. Swartz, Partner, Artus Wise

15.30-17.00

Closing Plenary: Resource Governance in a Time of Low Commodity Prices
featuring (TBC):

  • Prof. Tony Venables, Director, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies
  • Dr. Daniel Kaufmann, President, NRGI
  • Simon Thompson, Chairman, Tullow Oil
  • Zainab Ahmed, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative