THE FOCUS IN AFRICA ISSUE | 2020
FOREWORD
Mining in the SADC region The SADC region is endowed with myriad mineral resources that are currently being exploited and more that are yet to be mined. By Vusi Mabena* Vusi Mabena believes that value chains also need to be competitive enough to enable the mining industry to compete globally
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he success or failure of mining these resources is, among others, dependent on the policy and legislative frameworks that the different governments in the region are pursuing. Apart from the legislative framework, investment and cost-effective mining are also critical to success. The region is mining within a global context where there are other mining jurisdictions who are all scrambling for limited investors who have the appetite to invest in exploration and mining. Costcompetitiveness, therefore, is also an important consideration to guarantee that mining in the SADC region attracts the right investors and is able to compete in the global market. Africa has adopted the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) through the African Union and has left it to the different African regions to apply it in a way that best suits regional conditions and that will ensure sustainability and the prosperity of Africa and its communities. The SADC region, through the leadership of the SADC secretariat, has taken the lead in domesticating the AMV by drafting and adopting its own Regional Mining Vision (RMV), crafted from the key principles of the AMV. The RMV was adopted in August 2019 at the Summit of the Heads of State of the SADC region. The adoption of the RMV by
the heads of state is a demonstration of political willingness to ensure that mining and its regional value chains are prosperous in the SADC region. The challenge remains the actual domestication of the RMV at country level. An RMV is a sensible thing to have if all countries agree to it and make sure that policies and legislation at country level are aligned to it. When the RMV is launched, it finds countries at different stages or levels with regard to their mining policy and legislation. It then becomes a challenge for a country to realign itself to the RMV. Another major challenge is Governments in the that countries, as independent jurisdictions, drive certain strategies region need to create that are competitive for that country the environment for the and thus make it difficult to adjust industry to be attractive its competitive edge to ensure that for both local and it supports other countries in the region. Another major challenge international investment with the alignment of the RMV is that countries are not always at the same level with their mining trajectory. A key aspect of mining that is high on the agenda of most mining jurisdictions in the region is transformation, which is characterised differently in different countries. Some countries have a legislated mining charter, which contains
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