Global law firm Baker & McKenzie’s newly released Global Mining Guide, which reviews the legal regulations and developments in 28 key mining jurisdictions, explores the mining issues of three African countries – South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

The most significant insight gained into the African mining jurisdiction is that many countries on the continent are closely monitoring one another’s developments in terms of mining regulation and taxation, while also learning from one another’s experiences and policies, says Baker & McKenzie South Africa mining head Morne van der Merwe.

He points out that this similarity or consistency across the blocks of mining jurisdictions will greatly enhance investor confidence in the continent.

Baker & McKenzie has, for example, seen a more established regime for foreign investment, licensing and environment protection in countries that have a history of oil and gas exploration and development, while countries with immature mining industries are each developing at a different pace.

“Generally, countries will consider their investment policies and mining licensing regime, and review the investment policies again to ensure that government revenues keep up with the risk/reward profile being realised with foreign investors,” notes Van der Merwe.

With respect to foreign investment regimes and the percentage retained by African local governments, many countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, have an established mechanism that enables State-owned entities to maintain a stake in a project, while other countries, such as Zambia and Mozambique, deal with foreign investment on a case by case basis.

Meanwhile, based on the insight gained from work done by Backer & McKenzie in sub-Saharan Africa, many countries in the region, such as Zambia, Kenya and Botswana, are working hard to reduce red tape, but, in practice, administrative blockages still occur.

Another noticeable trend on the African continent that is highlighted in the guide is that most jurisdictions in Africa do not have a public consultation process when considering amendments to the mining regime.

“Announcements concerning new laws and policies can be ad hoc and without warning. For example, in some jurisdictions, connected local lawyers may be involved in an informal consultation process,” says Van der Merwe.

A notable exception is South Africa, where, typically, extensive prior consultation is carried out before a Bill or Amendment Bill is signed into law.

The mining jurisdictions covered in the guide include countries using common law and civil law with established mining regimes, as well as emerging hybrid legal systems and Islamic law jurisdictions.

“Different legal systems have different histories, values and ideologies and this is evident at the time when mining laws are designed and when administrative departments implement the black-letter law and policy affecting mining,” Baker & McKenzie global mining head John Mollard points out.

“Despite these differences, we saw a glo-bal emergence of converging themes and trends when we compiled the guide and liaised with our legal experts in each jurisdiction.”

The themes and trends entail mining laws being upgraded to provide greater clarity on issues of licensing and on moving from the exploration to the mining phase.

Another trend is the increase in the use of tender systems to issue new licences and the social and political shift towards a desire to attract the appropriate levels of foreign investment.

Also noticeable is the desire by central governments in Africa to increase mineral production while balancing this with domestic concerns of land ownership and the environment.

Mollard also highlights a global theme in which mining jurisdictions are developing stable State mining agreements or concessions to provide foreign investors with greater investment security, and efforts by host countries to explore different methods of increasing their revenue from mining operations.

Amendments to the requirements of local governments or State-owned entities as partners in free carry or commercial terms, or hybrid structures, are being made.

Baker & McKenzie’s Global Mining Guide was officially released in hard-copy format in October at the company’s global partners meeting, held in Singapore, and rereleased as an interactive online version, which is regularly updated, at the 2014 Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, which was held in Cape Town this month.

The guide was created as a reference text for in-house lawyers and business managers who deal with multiple countries and who need the relevant legal issues at their fingertips.

Investors can also use the guide as an easy-to-read quick reference of applicable laws. It can also be used as a comparison tool to understand any regulatory differences and potential shortcomings with respect to the regulatory environment being considered, as well as a means to gauge international norms and best practice.

The chapters in the guide that cover the various countries address the structure of the incumbent legal system; foreign investment regulation; common investment structures; licensing for exploration, retention and mining, including tenure, renewal and registration issues; and indigenous ownership considerations, regulation and agreements.

The guide also addresses environmental-law interaction and compliance, mine development rights, the availability of mining and tax stability and similar agreements, foreign exchange and remittance laws, as well as emerging issues and considerations.