Zambia’s policy perception drops
ZAMBIA has been ranked in the bottom 10 on the Investment Attractiveness Index and the Policy Perception Index 2020 by the Fraser Institute, a research and educational organisation based in Canada.
Zambia joined Tanzania and Zimbabwe at the bottom, among the countries experiencing drastic declines in their Policy Perception Index rankings.
In contrast, neighbouring Botswana and Namibia scored 83.48 and 87.22 respectively (compared to Zambia’s 38.50) based on the same metrics.
“The 10 least attractive jurisdictions for investment based on the PPI rankings (starting with the worst) are Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Argentina: Chubut, Argentina: Mendoza, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Guinea (Conakry), and Argentina: La Rioja,” said the report.
In the report, Zambia stood two places below the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) among the “least attractive jurisdictions for mining investment”, in position 71 out of 76 regions surveyed.
Previous rankings and scores in the Investment Attractiveness Index show that Zambia’s standing dropped drastically in 2019 compared to 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.
Whereas the country was given a score of 63.60 for investment attractiveness in 2018, this dropped to 37.90 in 2019. The decline in Zambia’s Policy Perception Index score was equally sharp, from 65.25 in 2018 to 38.50 last year.
“When considering both policy and mineral potential in the Investment Attractiveness Index, Tanzania ranks as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world for investment.
“This year, Tanzania replaced Venezuela as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world. Also in the bottom 10 (beginning with the worst) are Argentina: Chubut, Argentina: La Rioja, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Zambia, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Nicaragua,” the report said.
“The mining survey is the most comprehensive report on government policies that either attract or discourage mining investors,” said Ashley Stedman, co-author of the report and senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute.
The annual survey is closely watched by companies, minerals councils and mining chambers, as well as minerals and mining ministries, which typically use the results as a measure of their efficacy in attracting investment.
Zambia has been evaluated in the survey for several consecutive years, but this was the first time that it was ranked in the bottom ten of the participating jurisdictions.