Author: Peter Leon, Co-Chair of Africa Practice Group  Countries that shun populist moves appear more attractive as commodity prices fall In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the ANC would amend the country’s constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation ©Reuters The spectre of resource nationalism is again rearing its head across Africa, leading to … Read more

Author: Peter Leon, Andrew Cannon, Iain Maxwell and Hannah Ambrose   The last few months have seen significant changes to mining regulations in various African states, giving rise to a concern that a regional trend of resource nationalism may be (re-)emerging. In this context it is important for companies associated with the mining sector to be … Read more

Author: Peter Leon,Co-Chair of Africa Practice Group   The seemingly increasing trend towards nationalist thinking, combined with and likely driven by growing economic inequality, has resulted in several changes in mining and tax legislation in sub-Saharan Africa countries. Herbert Smith Freehills Africa Group co-chair and partner Peter Leon says the recent and significant changes to mining regulations … Read more

Authors: Peter Leon, Bertrand Montembault and Paul Morton INTRODUCTION  On 9 March 2018, President Joseph Kabila signed into law significant changes to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (“DRC”) mining code (the “Revised Code”).1 The Revised Code, which amends the 2002 Mining Code2 (the “2002 Mining Code”), was adopted by both houses of Parliament on 27 … Read more

Authors: Peter Leon, Jonathan Ripley-Evans and Dr Matthew Burnell Following the South African Parliament’s decision to investigate expropriation of land without compensation, there has been a spike in land invasions across the country. Land owners and persons in control of land need to be vigilant and act quickly to protect their property interests. While there … Read more