AFRICAN BUZZ
one or more aspects of our methodology. South Africa, Ethiopia
and Tanzania are among the more prominent countries to have
taken a tumble. A deterioration in the ease of doing business has
contributed to their relative underperformance and, in addition,
South Africa is enduring a cyclical downturn.
Tanzania’s fall from grace has reshuffled the top ten investment
destinations, with Tunisia returning to the fold at number ten
while Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana edge ever-closer to the top five.
North Africa remains dominant with Morocco displacing South
Africa in the rankings, rising to second place.
There is an even split of countries from the north, east and west
within our top ten rankings, with only South Africa representing
the southern tip of the continent, as a result of its dominance
in terms of market size. The top ten most attractive investment
destinations in Africa are (in order from best to worst): Egypt,
Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire,
Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tunisia.
SOUTH AFRICA:
RENEWED INTEREST IN
COMPLEX STUDIES
A group of leading scientists lead by geologists from South
Africa and Germany will shortly conduct scientific drilling in
the Bushveld Complex, which is regarded as the most valuable
mineral province on Earth.
According to Professor Freddie Roelofse, associate professor in
the Department of Geology at the University of the Free State,
the project aims to clarify several unresolved scientific questions
related to the genesis of this unique body of rocks and its
associated mineral deposits. Two boreholes will be drilled as part of
the project, including a 600m deep hole to the north of Mokopane
and a three kilometre deep hole northwest of Burgersfort.
Despite more than 100 years of mining and research on the
Complex, scientists still do not fully understand the processes that
led to the Bushveld Complex becoming the most valuable mineral
province on Earth.
The Bushveld Complex hosts a huge range of rare metals essential
for the manufacture of all Information Technology – phones,
computers and other commercial and military communication
hardware. It is the richest deposit on Earth for a crucial range of
rare metals. Located in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West
and Gauteng provinces of South Africa, the Complex hosts the
majority of global platinum-group element, chromium, and
vanadium resources, in addition to major deposits of copper,
nickel, gold, tin, iron, fluorite, and dimension stone.
As of 2006, more than 200 million ounces of platinum have
already been mined from the Bushveld Complex and, between
the depths of one kilometre and five kilometres, an estimated
6.8 billion ounces still remain. At current rates of extraction, the
complex will likely not be mined out within the next 700 years,
with much of the ore deeper than one kilometre still left intact.
Roelofse also pointed out that one of the focus areas of the
research relates to the potential for groundwater extraction from
rocks of the Bushveld Complex. “This research has the potential to
improve access to water for communities living on the rocks of the
Bushveld Complex,” he said.
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African Mining January 2020
11