Taking a comprehensive approach provides governments with a framework to understand and better implement initiatives in the extractive sector. This should involve linking upstream and downstream industry decisions, environmental and community issues, the management of government revenues, and wider economic concerns.
Within the government this requires coordination and an authorizing environment across ministries of mines, energy, finance, planning and beyond. Given the intrinsically linked and overlapping challenges, inter-ministerial coordination is necessary. Strategic direction may best come straight from the executive office; alternatively, an overarching body representing each ministry may be useful in coordination and implementation.
Too often the transformation of resource wealth into prosperity fails not because of a lack of the correct economic policies, but because of a weak underlying system of governance. A successful strategy therefore not only requires an understanding of the economics, but also an appreciation for accountability, the structure and capability of government institutions, and the relationship with civil society.