here it is. I can't believe that clueless SouthAfrican Finance minister. Perhaps he's in on the friggin fix. Mining in Africa is biggest criminal syndicate ever known to man. My position is that no African nation ought to engage in mining her mineral resources until she can determine their value and conduct all secondary and tertiary processing at home. No nation needs the mining revenue before it can identify, value, and20process the minerals. You are just gonna get majorly screwed. Haruna.Africa 'loses out on mining cash' | |||||
Mineral-rich African states have been deprived of huge
sums of royalties and taxes by mining firms, a report says.
The report, by prominent development charities, blames a lack of
legislative oversight and excessively generous tax concessions agreed with
the firms.
It says some mining companies have also avoided paying tax through
secret contracts with African governments.
The study covers South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.
Commissioned by development charities
including Christian Aid and
ActionAid, the Breaking the Curse report calls for reform of the
institutional framework that negotiates mining concessions and monitors
the royalties paid.
Even in the boom times, African nations failed to profit as much as
they should have done from natural resources thanks to inadequate tax
rules and lack of ability to enforce the rules that did apply, the report
says.
Ghana, a to
p African gold producer, is losing $68m (£46.7m) annually
because it is receiving low royalties, the report's authors estimate.
They believe Tanzania, the continent's third largest producer of gold,
could be losing $30m (£20.6m) a year in potential revenues.
And low royalty rates could be costing South Africa, the continent's
biggest gold producer, up to $359m (£246m) a year, the report says.
However, in South Africa, where the government has decided to defer
royalty payments this year to help secure jobs in the mining sector,
finance minister Trevor Manuel questioned the researchers' figures.
Mr Manuel said his country would lose $195m (£133.9m) in deferred
royalties this year.
The report says African countries have been encouraged by agencies such
as the World Bank to offer more generous terms to attract mining
investment.
Essentially, the BBC's business reporter Mark Gregory says, it argues
the costs of this approach have outweighed the
benefits.
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African countries have been encouraged by
agencies such as the World Bank to offer more generous terms to
attract mining investment 
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