Open Governance for Social Accountability in Natural Resources in Cameroon (OGSA)

Context :

The forestry, mining, and land sectors in Cameroon face critical governance challenges characterized by opaque contract award procedures, unfair revenue sharing, and deeply entrenched illicit practices. The OGSA project was established to ensure the equitable and sustainable use of these resources by empowering civil society organizations and frontline communities with transparent tracking data.

Project Objectives

• General Objective: Secure equitable and sustainable management of natural resources in Cameroon through enhanced social accountability and open governance frameworks.

• Specific Objectives:

  1. Publish and process standardized open data regarding natural resource extraction contracts and revenues.

  2. Build the oversight capacities of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Local Governments (CTDs), strictly integrating a gender-focused methodology.

  3. Mitigate systemic corruption, archive environmental crimes, and establish legal safe havens for whistleblowers.

Expected Results and Detailed Activities

• Output 1: Information on illicit practices and natural resource contract allocation is made accessible to the public.

  • Activity 1.1: System design (UML/MERISE), software development (Back-end: PHP/Python; Front-end: ReactJS/VueJS; Database: PostgreSQL), and deployment of a customized Open Contracting web platform for Cameroon (Lead: AfroLeadership).

  • Activity 1.2: Collect, digitize, and publish land, forestry, and mining allocation contracts online.

  • Activity 1.3: Map and publish sub-national revenue-sharing data (AfroLeadership & CED).

  • Activity 1.4 & 1.5: Launch an environmental crime database (target: 100 documented cases) and deploy community networks to expose illegal resource exploitation inside protected conservation areas.

• Output 2: Capacities of civil society and local decentralized authorities are strengthened with a specific focus on gender.

  • Activity 2.1 to 2.3: Run specialized capacity-building workshops on platform tracking mechanics and municipal resource tracking for community leaders and municipal staff.

  • Activity 2.4 to 2.6: Conduct a baseline research study exploring intersections of gender and extractive sector corruption, and publish a National Gender Anti-Corruption Strategy.

  • Activity 2.7 to 2.9: Standardize an online educational curriculum on natural resource transparency, audit internal financial capacities of partners, and support global knowledge-sharing forums.

• Output 4: Whistleblower and environmental defender protection mechanisms are functional.

  • Activity 4.1 to 4.3: Lobby parliament for a comprehensive legal framework protecting whistleblowers, operationalize secure intake hotlines, and channel endangered activists to international legal protection networks.

• Output 5: Compliance analyses of legal frameworks and resource contracts are delivered to stakeholders.

  • Activity 5.1 & 5.2: Facilitate dialogue and mediation between local communities, municipalities, and extractive corporations, alongside conducting targeted legislative lobbying.

  • Activity 5.3 & 5.4: Map high-risk corruption networks in the timber timber trade (focusing on Chinese, Vietnamese, and Italian supply chains) and chart illegal gold export pathways.

  • Activity 5.5 & 5.6: Document corporate fraud and file strategic litigation/petitions across national and international courts for community reparations.

• Output 6: Increased state and local public awareness regarding natural resource transparency.

  • Activity 6.1 & 6.2: Publish an operational capacity review of regulatory bodies and revitalize the state anti-corruption task force alongside CONAC, CONSUPE, and ANIF.

  • Activity 6.3 & 6.4: Train and logistically equip investigative journalists to execute field-based investigative reports, documentaries, and print series on extractive fraud.

  • Activity 6.5 & 6.6: Draft extractive governance barometers and distribute a unified public guide on transparency standards.

  • Activity 6.7: Convene a major sub-regional forum (Central Africa: Cameroon, DRC, CAR, Congo) inspecting illicit financial flows, cross-border corruption, and resulting regional security vulnerabilities.