Africa’s mining sector will continue to improve in 2019, despite trade wars and increased regulatory challenges, said the Standard Bank on Tuesday.

The bank said over the last 18 months, the focus has been on debt reduction and balance sheet repair after the 2013-2015 downturn.

Despite escalating trade wars keeping commodity prices in check and increased regulatory challenges across the continent generally, the sector will continue to improve this year, it said.

“We remain cautiously optimistic that Africa’s mining sector offers real opportunity for expansion in 2019 despite the challenging global macro environment and uncertain commodity prices,” said Mark Buncombe, head of mining and metals at Standard Bank.

He stated that 2019 is expected to see a renewed focus on mergers and acquisitions, saying there will be “more investment expected where policy makers have actively encouraged investment.”

He cited Ghana as an example, saying “once policy makers build a business and investment-friendly legislative environment the market responds very quickly.”

The Standard Bank stated that Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Ghana have favorable legislative environments on the continent.

Source: Xinhua