مجلة دراسات وأبحاث اقتصادية في الطاقات المتجددة
Volume 13, Numéro 1, Pages 389-400
2026-06-10
Taxation And Revenue Management In Mena's Mining Sector And Its Role In Economic Diversification
Authors : Ferzizi Ibrahim . Louail Bilal .
Abstract
Abstract: The MENA region's dependence on hydrocarbon revenues has intensified pressure on governments to develop alternative fiscal pillars. Mining—encompassing phosphates, copper, gold, zinc, and critical minerals—is increasingly recognised as a strategic vehicle for post-hydrocarbon diversification, yet the fiscal regimes governing the sector remain fragmented, insufficiently progressive, and poorly integrated with broader development objectives. This article analyses how fiscal regimes—encompassing royalties, corporate income taxes, value-added taxes, withholding taxes, fiscal incentives, and environmental levies—affect national revenue mobilisation and economic diversification in seven MENA economies: Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, and Algeria. The study employs comparative policy analysis combined with descriptive statistical analysis of cross-country fiscal and macroeconomic indicators. Data are drawn from IMF publications, World Bank World Development Indicators, EITI reports, national mining laws, and peer-reviewed literature. Results show that MENA mining fiscal regimes are predominantly royalty-based and investment-incentive-oriented, with limited use of progressive profit-based instruments capable of capturing resource rents during commodity price upswings. Revenue mobilisation from mining remains modest relative to sector potential. Morocco and Jordan demonstrate comparatively more institutionalised frameworks, while Saudi Arabia's 2020 Mining Investment Law represents a significant reform step. Environmental and carbon levies are absent from all seven countries. An exploratory association analysis indicates that governance quality is positively associated with non-oil revenue mobilisation, and that mining revenue dependence correlates negatively with export diversification. This article provides the first integrated comparative analysis of mining fiscal regimes and their diversification implications across seven MENA countries, filling a critical gap at the intersection of natural resource taxation, public finance, and economic diversification scholarship. MENA governments should modernise mining fiscal regimes by introducing progressive rent-capture instruments, improving VAT administration, establishing transparent revenue allocation mechanisms, and linking mining revenues to infrastructure and human capital investment.
Keywords
Mining taxation ; Revenue mobilisation ; MENA ; Economic diversification ; Resource rents
Les articles similaires
Attou Rachid
.
pages 593-608.
براكني عبد الباقي
.
ص 112-122.
Naar Fatiha
.
pages 58-71.
