Livingstone, Zambia – July 15-18, 2025: The Office of the Auditor General of the Federal Republic of Somalia (OAGS) took part in a landmark joint workshop organized by AFROSAI-E and the INTOSAI Working Group on Audit of Extractive Industries (WGEI), held in Livingstone, Zambia. The event brought together representatives from 24 African Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), alongside international experts and key stakeholders in the extractive sector.
Held under the theme “The Role of Supreme Audit Institutions in Future-Proofing Mining for the Benefit of Citizens,” the four-day workshop focused on how SAIs can play a transformative role in ensuring that mineral wealth leads to transparency, accountability, environmental sustainability, and inclusive development.
The sessions addressed critical issues such as maximizing public value from Africa’s rich reserves of critical and conflict minerals, promoting peace and safety in mining operations, leveraging technology, and increasing community participation in the evolving landscape of energy transition.
The Somali delegation, composed of senior staff members from OAGS, actively contributed to thematic panels and strategic discussions. Their interventions focused on aligning extractive governance with Somalia’s broader sustainable development goals, particularly in the context of balancing rising global demand for natural resources with national priorities and community benefit.
“The extractive sector holds vast potential, but only if it is managed responsibly and transparently. SAIs must remain at the forefront of protecting that value for the public good,” a senior OAGS official noted during one of the sessions.
The workshop concluded with a unified call for deeper regional collaboration, innovative audit approaches, and strengthened regulatory frameworks to ensure that Africa’s mineral wealth delivers lasting value to its citizens. For OAGS, the event reinforced the importance of peer learning and international cooperation in enhancing Somalia’s capacity to oversee emerging sectors with integrity and foresight.
