Fraser Institute’s survey claims Botswana having best mining environment in Africa

Botswana is again the highest ranked jurisdiction in Africa on policy, ranking 12th (of 83) in 2018 – Survey of Mining Companies 2018 by Fraser Institute stated.

The said survey is an attempt to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration investment. While conducting the survey, it was circulated electronically to approximately 2,600 individuals between August 21st and November 9th, 2018, as reported by Mining Review Africa.

The Institute received 291 responses from the survey providing sufficient data to evaluate 83 jurisdictions. By way of comparison, 91 jurisdictions were evaluated in 2017, 104 in 2016, 109 in 2015, and 122 in 2014.

The number of jurisdictions that can be included in the study tends to wax and wane as the mining sector grows or shrinks due to commodity prices and sectoral factors. This year’s survey includes an analysis of permit times, which was previously evaluated in a separate publication, Mining Review Africa noted.

Policy factors examined include uncertainty concerning the administration of current regulations, environmental regulations, regulatory duplication, the legal system and taxation regime, uncertainty concerning protected areas and disputed land claims, infrastructure, socioeconomic and community development conditions, trade barriers, political stability, labour regulations, quality of the geological database, security, and labour and skills availability.

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