CLA - Cobalt related news, page-2508

https://www.maplecroft.com/insights/analysis/resource-nationalism-rises-30-countries/



Our Resource Nationalism Index (RNI) – which measures the risk of expropriation, the imposition of more stringent fiscal regimes, and pressure for companies to source goods and services from local providers – names the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Russia as two notable movers on the list. Both have been downgraded to ‘extreme risk’ in the ranking of 198 countries and join a group of eight nations where the risks to business from governments taking greater control of natural resources is highest.
Countries now rated ‘extreme risk’ include:

• Venezuela and DRC (joint highest risk globally)
• Tanzania (3^rd)
• Russia (4^th)
• North Korea and Zimbabwe (joint 5^th)
• Swaziland (7^th)
• Papua New Guinea (8^th)

When it comes to squeezing investors, DRC is an extreme case in point. The country’s downgrade from 6^th highest risk in the index to joint 1^st was precipitated by its new Mining Code, which imposed onerous fiscal terms on existing operators and allows heightened levels of government interventionism in the sector. Since June 2018, when the code came into law, the government has attempted to block commercial asset transfers, tried to usurp operators to glean more profit, and choked exports from a cobalt mine.
The situation in DRC won’t improve anytime soon.

In fact, the DRC government is likely to include copper as a ‘strategic’ substance that will be subject to the punitive 10% royalties currently levied on coltan, germanium and cobalt. With events moving fast in the country, we could see this come into force in 2019.