The underlying principle of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is the belief that sustainable development which encapsulates eradication of poverty is possible in resource rich countries including Nigeria which are often victims of “resource curse”. But it is only possible when the government of resource rich countries like Zambia recognize that it is their sovereign duty to manage their country’s resource wealth for the benefits of all their citizens.

A complementary fundamental tenet of the EITI is the conviction that public understanding of national revenue and public expenditure, over time, facilitates public debate and informs rational choice of appropriate option and strategies for sustainable development.

Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative represents a national domestication of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

EITI is founded on the faith that transparency in revenue management coupled with the principle and practice of accountability, by government to all citizens constitutes the hall mark of good government. This is the rationale for the use of a multi-stakeholder structure to govern the EITI process.

It is also the basic explanation for the mainstreaming of the role of civil society in the implementation of the EITI at the global and national levels. The EITI with headquarters in Oslo Norway is being implemented by over 53 countries spread around all the continents of the World.