ADDIS ABABA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The 6th edition of Tana High-Level Forum, an independent forum on peace and security, will be held from April 22-23 in northern Ethiopian city of Bahir Dar, under the theme "Natural Resource Governance in Africa."
The forum this year will go beyond the "non-renewable" sector including oil, gas, and minerals, and will broaden the scope to include the governance of other natural resources, namely, land, water, seas, and forests and biodiversity, according to its organizers.
It will seek to explain why that the exploitation of these resources is increasingly a source of tension and violence in ways that have profoundly disturbing impacts on peace and stability on the continent.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is Chairperson of Tana Forum Board, told the press on Monday that six heads of states, as well as heads of international institutions in Africa, ambassadors and delegates of the private sector have confirmed their attendance to the two-day event.
A number of crosscutting issues will be the subject of keen debate at the 6th Tana Forum, including growing demands to renegotiate concessions with transnational companies, responsible revenue management especially in terms of promoting transparency, accountability, ethics, and social responsibility in natural resource governance.
It also includes achieving and maintaining resource sovereignty at a time when many African countries have to rely on external initiatives to get a fair deal from the exploitation of their resources.
