Poor Countries Missing Out on Benefits, Christian Aid Reports

A new report from Christian Aid reveals that poor people in mineral-rich developing countries are missing out on the benefits of higher commodity prices while large transnational oil and mining corporations make record profits.

Privatisation of national government assets and low levels of taxation for international firms has meant poor countries are not reaping the rewards from owning most of the world's valuable mineral and oil and gas deposits, the report says.

Poor countries like Zambia, Bolivia and the Philippines have entered into one-sided, often secret deals that allow corporations to dig for oil, gas, copper, nickel and other precious resources without having to give much back to the country in taxes or royalty payments, Christian Aid reports.

"It is a terrible indictment of the power of transnational companies that they can continue to make vast profits while the countries that actually own the goods in the ground make absurdly little out of the deal," said Claire McGuigan, Christian Aid's senior economic policy adviser. "This glaring imbalance shows that there is an urgent need for poor countries to renegotiate their tax and royalty deals."

The relatively weak position of many poor countries to make money out of their own resources is highlighted by the recent surge in world commodity prices to an all-time high. Between 2002 and 2006, the price of copper rose almost five-fold while gold, nickel and oil all increased significantly in price.

While mining companies have done well financially, boasting a profit level eight times higher in 2006 than in 2002, poor countries have not been able to cash in.