By Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) -A group of 20 developing countries affected by conflict has approved a plan to provide emergency support to members facing international disputes or high-stakes talks with companies on natural resources and infrastructure, its deputy general-secretary told Reuters.
The Rapid Response Advisory Centre, signed off at a meeting of the g7+ group in September, aims to provide practical support to members facing urgent matters of national importance, Habib Ur Rehman Mayar said.
Member states – all in Africa, Asia and the Middle East -will be able to access immediate help at no cost before moving to longer-term external advisory support from a roster of experts, facilitated by the advisory centre.
“Where they’re entering into such negotiations, we can support them and help them be aware of some of the economic consequences of the negotiations,” Mayar said.
Founded in 2010, the g7+ is based in Timor-Leste and also includes Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Togo and Yemen. The group has U.N. Observer status.
The decision coincides with an ongoing reduction in development aid by many richer countries and follows a letter from Timor-Leste’s prime minister to g7+ leaders in June urging the bloc to better assert itself.
The need to do so had become more acute, it said, as the world looks to tap the natural resources of member states, in part to help fuel the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
A recent g7+ report showed that members hold around 16% of global copper reserves, the second largest in the world; the world’s biggest reserves of cobalt; 6% of lithium reserves; a fifth of cocoa production; and around 6% of global gold output.
Despite their natural riches, some g7+ countries have forged resource-extraction deals with multinational companies or countries that saw them unfairly treated during highly technical processes that they did not always understand, Mayar said.
“By the time they realised it was unfair, it was too late.”
He said the advisory centre may look to get involved in conflict resolution and helping countries obtain climate finance – a key part of the agenda for COP30 climate talks in Brazil next month, but which states have struggled to access.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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