Policy Alert’s inaugural Host Communities Development Index has pulled back the curtain on fragile institutions meant to channel oil wealth into local development.
The pilot assessment was presented at the Host Communities Development Forum in Port Harcourt on 9 March 2026. It evaluated 18 Host Community Development Trusts in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States. The assessment found systemic shortcomings in governance and inclusion. It also identified issues in environmental stewardship and energy transition preparedness.
The Index is a gender aware tool described by its authors. It measures whether the Petroleum Industry Act is delivering on its promise. The results paint a mixed picture.
A minority of Trusts are building credible governance systems and delivering community projects.
Others, nevertheless, show chronic failures. These include opaque decision making and weak accountability. There is negligible female representation on boards. They exhibit poor environmental performance and lack any coherent strategy for the energy transition.
At the heart of the findings is a persistent gender gap. Women are significantly under-represented on Trust governing bodies even where funds have been directed to gendered programmes.
Only one Trust in the survey, Foursome HCDT, recorded women holding up to 40 per cent of board positions. In many Trusts women are present as token appointees rather than equal decision makers.
Policy Alert warns that projects labelled gender focused will not transform livelihoods unless women share power at board level.
Policy Alert’s Executive Director, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, presented the Index as a tool for accountability.
“The promise of the PIA was that host communities would finally have a structured and transparent mechanism for deriving some benefits from the resource extraction happening in their backyards,” he said.
“Where Trusts are governed well, we are already seeing encouraging examples of community driven development. But the Index also shows clear gaps in institutional capacity, transparency, inclusion, and long term sustainability that must be addressed.”
The Index’s environmental metrics are stark. Two Trusts scored zero across every environmental sustainability indicator. They operate in coastal communities that are ecologically fragile. These areas are already suffering pollution and erosion.
These failures raise immediate concerns. They question how community funds are used to remediate damage. They also look at how funds support resilience in the face of recurring oil-related impacts.
The report identifies inconsistent funding flows and weak oversight as core reasons why environmental safeguards are rarely prioritised.
Equally worrying is the lack of preparedness for the global energy transition. None of the 18 Trusts assessed had a comprehensive transition strategy.
That omission leaves communities heavily dependent on fossil fuel investment exposed to future shocks. It also results in lost opportunities in the low carbon economy.
The Index notes that energy transition planning must shift from abstract aspiration to concrete budgets. It should include capacity building and local employment plans.
The National Assembly’s watchful eye was on show at the forum. Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Robinson Dekor is the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities. He said sustained legislative oversight is necessary. This oversight will make the PIA work for communities.
“HCDTs were created to correct decades of imbalance in the oil sector,” he told delegates, “and for that reason we support initiatives such as this Index by Policy Alert as a tool for strengthening transparency and ensuring the PIA framework actually delivers to the people it was designed to serve.”
The regulatory backdrop is uneven. The National Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission provides an implementation template for HCDT incorporation and management. However, the Index demonstrates that these templates and guidance have not translated into consistent practice on the ground.
Many Trusts still lack basic transparency practices like public annual reports, accessible budgets and clear procurement rules. Without these, boards and communities struggle to follow the money.
Policy Alert’s recommendations are practical and deliberately reform minded. They propose a review of relevant PIA regulations. This review aims to prescribe minimum board quotas for women. It also aims to set budget thresholds for women-focused projects. Additionally, they seek to strengthen mandatory transparency requirements.
The Index also urges development partners and settlors to prioritise capacity building for trustees and community representatives. Additionally, it calls for the National Assembly to consider legislative amendments to tighten oversight of Trust operations.
For coastal communities that depend on both natural capital and oil revenues, the stakes are high. The report’s authors argue that without urgent reforms, HCDTs risk becoming another governance layer. In this scenario, funds are dispersed with little lasting benefit.
Conversely, where Trusts are governed well, the Index documents tangible benefits. It highlights community-led infrastructure, small enterprise support, and targeted livelihood programmes. These are initiatives that locals recognise and value. The Index therefore reads as both warning and blueprint.
What happens next matters. The forum saw calls from stakeholders for the National Assembly to amend the PIA where necessary. Additionally, regulators are urged to sustain rigorous registration and monitoring of Trusts.
Civil society urged the rapid rollout of gender inclusion training. They also called for establishing state-level monitoring mechanisms. These mechanisms should publish simple performance dashboards.
If followed, these steps could convert the PIA’s promise into durable outcomes for host communities.
Conclusion. Policy Alert’s Host Communities Development Index provides the first comparative baseline. It measures whether newly created Trusts are meeting the standards of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Its findings are uncomfortable but actionable.
The path to stronger HCDTs runs through clearer rules and enforced transparency. It requires deliberate gender inclusion. Proactive planning for the energy transition is also necessary.
For communities that have long waited for the benefits of their natural resources, the Index is timely. It serves as an instrument for accountability.
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