The right legislation, economic stability and a degree of political certainty is promoting Ghana’s mining industry among the investor community, according to the Africa Mining report 2018.
The report named Ghana among Botswana, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire and Zambia, as Countries in Africa that have developed the right legislation to achieve national development goals. It lauded these countries for creating a fair, responsible and conducive environment for foreign investment.
“Those markets – like Botswana, Namibia and increasingly Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Zambia, for example – that have developed balanced legislative regimes cognizant of the industry’s long investment cycles, while also talking to local national development goals, are likely to attract global interest, the report noted
Sustained commodity price growth and reduced costs on Africa are combining new technology trends with synchronized global growth to present Africa’s mining sector with the best prospects in over a decade, the report indicated.
“Given Africa’s rich resource endowment, mining is and will continue to be central to the growth and global integration of African economies, as well as being a key determinant of the prosperity of Africa’s peoples.
“The centrality of mining to the development of the continent means that 2018 is likely to be a watershed year in Africa’s ongoing growth story,” says the report.
“For the first time in a decade most commodities, bar platinum, have seen significant price recovery. At the same time miners have done a lot of work cutting costs with margins, globally, on the increase,” it stated.
While the protracted absence of investment in prospecting will weigh on the industry for many years to come, reduced debt levels means that in 2018, balance sheets are generally stronger too.
The volatility of recent years means that many companies are reluctant to spend, however, where real risk-managed opportunities present themselves in Africa investment is taking place, industry analysts have observed. These improvements in Africa’s domestic mining landscape are coinciding with a unique period of synchronized global growth, presenting a number of opportunities across Africa in 2018.
By Adu Koranteng
