Natural Resource Governance in Unrecognized Settings: What Are Emerging Political, Legal and Fiscal Issues Affecting “Somaliland”?

Somaliland declared independence after the fall of the Central Government of Somalia in 1991. Early peace settlements and state-building efforts led to transitional government and early democratic contestations including presidential elections in a hybrid state framework. This emerging democracy in a conflict-torn region is challenged by weak accountability and power imbalances between the three government branches. Over the past few years, the current ruling party started to engage with foreign companies to carry out exploration activities in onshore blocks utilizing existing information on the distribution of natural resources of oil, and gas and to lesser extent mining. Following an informal auction of selling licenses for resource exploration among various companies, Genel Energy amongst others;Somaliland has no competent institutions in managing revenues for long-term development due to two distinctive factors: 1) absence of strong legal and political frameworks specific to governance of extractive industry;2) weak fiscal regimes across spectrum of extractive companies, the state and investors.

Economic Bankruptcy of the Industries in Mato Grosso,Brazil

Data from the Commercial Registry of the Mato Grosso State(JUCEMAT)indicate that the number of bankrupted industries exceeded 16 thousand between 2006 and 2016.This is a high number,to the point of questioning which particularities are related with the economic bankruptcy in the State.The objective of this study is precisely to analyse the profile of these industries that closed their activities in Mato Grosso,considering the estimated survival rate for the extraction and transformation segments.Also,based on the underlying indicators of factor analysis,the crucial factors for the economic bankruptcy of micro and small enterprises in the state are delineated.The main results point to the generalized consequences arising from the main economic crises,with more aggressive effects for the microenterprises of sand,gravel,and cobble extraction.Aggravated problems included also the food and logging industries,the main activities of the local economy,with more pronounced impacts in the South,Southeast,North and Central-North regions of Mato Grosso.The survival rate declined considerably between 2006 and 2008 and,despite recovery in the following period,it has not yet recovered its best performance.In the case of micro and small transformation industries,the results point to a group with limited managerial capacity and lack of strategic planning before the execution of the main stages of production and commercialization.

The Development of Accounting Regulation in Extractive Industries in Australia, South Africa and Canada

In view of the economic significance of extractive industries, the special accounting issues raised, and the numerous calls over many years for standardization, there has been less regulation of their accounting than as expected. The development of accounting regulations and practices in the extractive industries in 3 countries is reviewed, which are Australia, South Africa and Canada.

Engines for Peace? Extractive Industries, Host Countries, and the International Community in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

Extractive industries can provide great opportunities for post-conflict peacebuilding in resource-rich countries by providing revenue to finance reconstruction and set the economy back on track. However, the process of resource extraction often poses challenges for peacebuilding. This article first explains the various challenges that valuable natural resources can pose in post-conflict countries, and establishes a typology of post-conflict contexts where extractive industries, the host country, and the international community can play primary roles as peace promoters. It then elaborates on the specific roles each of these actors can play: i) what approaches are available for responsible companies that aim to be peace sensitive and even promote peace and development locally and nationally;ii) how a country that has some capacity and political will to secure long term peace and development can promote responsible exploitation;and iii) how international actors can promote responsible company and government behaviour in countries with low capacity and willingness use the natural resource base for the best of its whole population.

Heavy Metal Release from Some Industrial Wastes: Influence of Organic and Inorganic Acids, Clay Minerals, and Nanoparticles

Knowledge about heavy metal release from industrial solid wastes(ISWs) is crucial for better management of their environmental risks. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of organic and inorganic acids, clay minerals, and nanoparticles(NPs) on the release of heavy metals from sugar factory waste, ceramic factory waste, leather factory waste, and stone cutting waste. The influence of the extractants on heavy metal release from these ISWs was in the following descending order: citric acid > oxalic acid > nitric acid≥ sulfuric acid > Ca Cl2. Addition of clay minerals and NPs as adsorbents decreased heavy metal release, which was significantly lower in NP-treated wastes than in the clay mineral-treated wastes. On the other hand, the presence of organic and inorganic acids increased heavy metal adsorption by NPs and clay minerals. These results suggest that NPs can be applied successfully in waste remediation,and organic and inorganic acids play an important role in the removal of heavy metals from the studied adsorbents.