African mining policy ranking released, Morocco come first, Namibia become the best mining destination
Namibia ranks second among the most popular jurisdictions in the African Policy Perception Index (PPI), according to The Namibian
The Fraser Institute’s recently released 2021 Mining Companies Survey report said Namibia has improved significantly from fifth place in the 2020 survey.
Morocco has the highest PPI score and is also the highest-ranked country in Africa. The Republic of Ireland ranks first in the world.
Namibia’s global PPI ranking has risen, from 47th in 2020 to 2021, according to a statement released by the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia (CMN), Venson Malango, on April 14. 29th, an improvement of 18 places.
Marango said: “It must be emphasized and warned that Namibia’s score has improved from 74.30 in 2020 to 74.20 in 2021, which is insignificant and still far below the excellent score of 80 achieved in 2018 and 2019 respectively. , 70 and 82.22 points.”
“This shows that there is still much work to be done to improve Namibia’s policy outlook,” he said.
Although Namibia’s overall PPI index has improved, individual country responses to Namibia’s policy environment have been negative.
They stressed that the lengthy process of obtaining permits was an obstacle to project development and expressed concern that royalties were not deductible, although this was resolved in 2020.
The concern is that “non-deductibility of royalties prevents the industry from minimizing costs, which damages the competitiveness of the industry”.
The Namibian Chamber of Mines believes this announcement has had a negative impact on Namibia’s performance.
Without this concern, Namibia’s global and African PPI scores and rankings could have been higher, as the risk did not apply over the past two years, the chamber said.
However, the Namibian Chamber of Mines believes that the report accurately reflects the current overall investment situation, which appears to be volatile rather than significantly improving.
Marango said: “It is increasingly worrying that while the government’s statements are conducive to creating a favorable investment climate, there is no visible corresponding action to signal the finalization of the outstanding policy issues, which will continue to make investors feel Uncertainty.”
Marango said the Namibian Chamber of Mines will remain committed to working with the government to overcome these barriers and ensure the most favourable policy outcomes to benefit Namibia’s mining industry and make Namibia the most attractive region for exploration and mining investment in Africa.
The Investment Attractiveness Index (IAI), which combines the Policy Perception Index and the Best Practice Mineral Potential Index, is an overall measure of a country’s competitiveness.
“While the Mineral Potential Index has a greater weight, investors are sensitive to policy uncertainty and will favour jurisdictions with a stable policy environment that is conducive to mining,” the chamber said.