...[In] the latest assessment of natural resource governance by the Revenue Watch Institute. While Zambia and South Africa score above average, the other five countries from the region all languish in the bottom half of the index of 58 mineral-rich nations – with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and Zimbabwe all deemed to be ‘failing’. Angola scrapes into the ‘weak’ category alongside Botswana, while even the region’s top two performers only partially meet key standards – and are still well short of ‘satisfactory’...It is surely no coincidence that Zambia appears high up the list and that civil society groups – and communities – are playing an increasingly influential role in the country’s extractive sector, led by the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW)...Revenue Watch Institute proposes six key recommendations...[including] Disclose contracts with companies...Join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative...Open state-owned companies to public scrutiny...