THE Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was launched in 2003 as a would-be global standard for managing natural resources, promoting openness in transactions between governments and companies to curb the corruption that was rampant in some places. It has since grown to include 51 countries. But its “multi-stakeholder” model—which gives equal board representation to its three constituencies: governments, companies and civil society—ensures regular bust-ups. As the EITI itself has put it, the process is “by definition loud, difficult and argumentative”.