Measuring effective mining sovereignty across 22 African countries: what a state can deliver, not what it declares. Five pillars, twenty sub-indicators and 440 scores, each tested against written anchors and dated evidence.
First edition · October 2026
In 2026, African governments wrote export bans, equity mandates and renegotiated contracts into law at a pace not seen in a decade. The capacity to administer those rules has not kept up. The Index scores 22 countries on State Ownership, Beneficiation, Revenue Capture, Institutional Capacity and Strategic Autonomy, and asks which states actually control their minerals and capture the value they produce.
No country exceeds 66. Botswana leads, followed by the DRC (65), Morocco and Zambia (63). The continental average is 51.6.
In Zimbabwe, the DRC and Niger, Strategic Autonomy exceeds Institutional Capacity by more than three points: the Index's HIGH RISK flag.
The weakest of the five pillars. Only six countries score above 10, led by Morocco (16) and South Africa (15).
The report is free to download. Also available in French (PDF).
The interactive dashboard (ranking, pillar scores, sovereignty map and country profiles, in English and French) is available free of charge. We’ll also email you the link.
Each pillar is the sum of four sub-indicators scored 0 to 5 against written anchors, for a total out of 100. A measure counts only once it is in force and applied; bills and announcements are tracked separately until they take effect. Scores are reviewed every quarter. The Index is not an investment rating: a high score means that a state controls its mining sector, not that a project there will be profitable.
The free report gives the ranking and the main findings. The decisions it informs (where to invest, what to negotiate, which reform to fund first) need the detail behind each score. Write to us to order a report or request a sample.
All 20 sub-indicator scores for one of the 22 countries, with justification and sources.
Sub-indicator scores for every country on both indices, with justifications and sources.
Score changes each quarter and what caused them.
Our flagship quarterlies are free. Country playbooks, revenue models and the interactive dashboards that sit behind them are available on demand from the Resources catalogue.
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