Just when Kenya and Tanzania are undertaking reforms to ensure their mining sector plays a central role in economic growth, a report by Canada’s Fraser Institute has cast a dark cloud on its attractiveness, after ranking them at the bottom of the pile. Its Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2017 index ranks Kenya as the second worst mining destination in the world, after Guatemala, and the worst in Africa. According to Fraser Institute, which is a leading think-tank that shapes public policy and influences private sector decisions through its research, Tanzania is the fourth least attractive destination in Africa and ranks at position 78 out of 91 countries globally...

“Legislative changes in Tanzania, which are being retrospectively applied, undermine the sanctity of contracts and remove recourse for international arbitration to resolve disputes with the government. This creates uncertainty and instability and makes for a particularly hostile investment environment,” says the report...In Kenya, the government published regulations compelling foreign companies to cede some shareholding to the government and list at the stock market in line with the Mining Act, 2016. The regulations stipulate that foreign companies investing at least $100 million must list at the stock market to allow Kenyans to benefit from the minerals and to check the mass repatriation of revenues...Tanzania has reviewed its mining laws to enable it to renegotiate mining contracts with foreign companies, which it accused of tax evasion and under-declaring volumes and types of minerals exported.