Earlier today, the LEITI Secretariat welcomed a visiting team from the MCC to its offices. Discussions centered on the Secretariat's advancements in implementing the EITI Standard, as well as the ongoing challenges faced with reporting entities. The MCC team applauded the significant work of LEITI and encouraged the continuation of these efforts.

The Secretariat highlighted several key areas of progress, including:

• The public disclosure of the full text of all extractive agreements in the mining, forestry, oil & gas, and agriculture sectors.
• The development of LEITI’s data portal.
• The publication of a Beneficial Ownership regulation for domestic entities.
• The preparation of Liberia’s 16th EITI Report, covering fiscal year 2023.
• The preparation of a Compliance Investigation Report on the terms and conditions of six major mining companies.
• Intense community engagement with affected communities.

Conversely, the Secretariat also outlined significant challenges, such as:

• The non-disclosure of Beneficial Ownership information by most extractive companies.
• The failure of reporting entities to publish extractive sector agreements on their own websites.
• A lack of comprehensive extractive sector data provided for LEITI reports.
• The failure of some extractive companies and state-owned enterprises to submit their current audited financial statements.