Botswana’s government will encourage new mining ventures to offer citizens the right to buy as much as 24% of projects in which the state hasn’t exercised its right to purchase a stake.
Under current legislation, the government is entitled to offer to buy as much as 15% equity in any new mining entity. The amendment seeks to encourage, rather than compel, new ventures to invite citizens to purchase a shareholding, according to the bill. Botswana, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by value, rarely changes its mining legislation and frequently ranks as Africa’s best country for minerals investment. That’s largely because of the nation’s policy predictability in an industry that is the nation’s economic mainstay, making up about a third of budget revenue and the bulk of foreign-currency receipts.
The proposed changes to Botswana’s legislation date as far back as 2016, when the government proposed that the 15% equity entitlement be increased and that in cases where the state opted not to exercise its right, citizens be invited to do so.