Botswana remains preferred African mining destination

Released last week, the Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies 2012-2013 placed Botswana ahead of more advanced economies such as New Zealand, Spain, Russia and most of the American states.More than 740 exploration, development and other mining-related companies around the world participated in the 2012-2013 survey, giving their perceptions of mining investment environments in 96 jurisdictions, which include provinces, territories and countries.

In terms of countries, Botswana was the fifth most preferred mining address in the world, behind Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Norway and Greenland, in descending order of their rankings on the survey. Including province and other territories, Botswana was 17th in the world, the same position it occupied 2011-2012 survey.Respondents were asked to rank the jurisdictions in terms of their perceptions of performance across 15 key policy factors such as government policies, taxation, environment regulations, infrastructure and political stability.