Botswana ranke number 1 in Africa for mining investment
According to the recently released Fraser Institute survey, Botswana has once again been named the foremost preferred destination for mining and mineral investment in Africa. The 2009 Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies is reported to have involved more that 3000 mining entities representing 71 jurisdictions on every continent except the Antarctica. Botswana was ranked 18th overall in the world, coming behind global leaders mainly concentrated in North America. 2009 thus marks the fourth year in a row Botswana has been ranked the preferred mining destination in Africa, starting from the 2005/06 survey. All respondents who commented on Botswana were reported to have said that Botswana has the most favourable policies towards mining.
Botswana, with an index score of 64.9, was ahead of other African states such as Mali (53.6); Namibia (52.5), Ghana (51.3) and Burkina Faso (45.1). South Africa was ranked 10th in Africa with 40.4. Botswana also eclipsed many more developed
jurisdictions such as several states in the United States, several Australian provinces, most European countries and most Latin American countries. The index score is extracted from several criteria that the survey looks at. It is reported that respondents were asked to comment on individual countries' performances in terms of criteria such as current mineral potential, political stability, labour regulations, geological database, security, supply of labour, environmental regulations, availability of infrastructure, taxation and others.
According to the survey, mining companies throughout the world ranked Botswana first in Africa in terms of political stability and labour regulations/employment agreements. Botswana was ranked second in Africa, behind South Africa, for its geological database, which includes Diamond cutting quality and scale of maps, ease of access to information and others. This ranking is expected to improve in years to come as the Department of Geological Survey (DGS) in Lobatse is currently in partnership with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation (JOGMEC) in a remote sensing project. Under the five year project, Batswana geologists are undergoing training from our Japanese counter parts in remote sensing -the technology of detecting the presence of minerals using satellites in space.
The country was also ranked first in Africa in terms of security, which includes the threat of terrorism, criminal attacks or guerrilla groups disrupting mining activities. Second in this category was Namibia. Botswana was also ranked highly in terms of taxation and environmental regulations.
One of the respondents in the Survey said: "Botswana is the shining star of governance and lack of corruption in Africa"
The Fraser Institute, a Canadian research organization, has conducted the mining survey since 1997 involving increasing
number of respondents and jurisdictions. Survey results represent the opinions of executives and exploration managers in mining and mining consultancy companies operating around the world.