AUSTRALIAN explorers are rushing to Namibia to take advantage of the nation's natural resource blessings – especially in uranium – as well as its excellent infrastructure and facilities, and stable, mining-friendly government. Kate Haycock reports after her visit to the country last week.

Peter Batten, managing director of Bannerman Resources and one of a slew of Australians exploring for uranium in the country, believes Namibia is "Africa for beginners".

It's safe, clean, and while poverty and disease are still major issues facing the country's mainly black population, Namibia has a far better reputation than some of its other sub-Saharan neighbours, like Angola.

In fact, Namibia is not just a mining mecca; it is a hugely popular tourist destination, especially for visitors from Germany and South Africa, who flock to the country's iconic skeleton coast where 300m-high sand dunes meet the Atlantic Ocean.

And the first thing that strikes a visitor to the country, after jumping off a plane at the regional centre of Walvis Bay, is just how good the roads are.

It's a cliché that Africa will be hot, dusty and difficult to get around, and while Namibia has its fair share of dust and sand - and can get extremely hot - the well-sealed and well-maintained roads are equal to any (and some may say better) than you'd see in Australia.

Namibia also rates low in the sovereign risk stakes. The nation's Government is democratically elected and the country is free of the strife gripping many other African countries, but it can be somewhat jarring to see streets sporting the names of so-called revolutionaries like Robert Mugabe and Ernesto "Che" Guevara in the capital Windhoek.

The names point to the Marxist leanings of past president Sam Nujoma, who was the leader of the Swapo (South West African People's Organisation) party from the 1960s, and president of the country from 1990 until 2005.

Swapo has held power continuously since Namibia's independence from South Africa in 1990 and has shown some nationalist leanings, however, the country appears to have missed out on Zimbabwean-style land grabs or other violence. Swapo does have a policy of redistributing land from white to black Namibians, however this has been done via buy-outs rather than by force.

In fact, in the RESOURCESTOCKS World Risk Survey of 2007 Namibia came in at number two, making it a riskier place than Sweden, and firmly outranking Botswana at number seven and Australia which came in at eighth place.

Mining accounts for about 20% of the country's gross domestic product, and the Namibia Economist reports the Namibian mining industry generated around $11.44 billion Namibian ($A1.9 billion) in sales. The mining industry also employs 3% of the Namibian population.

Taxation and royalties are generally competitive, however the Namibian Government recently increased the non-diamond mining royalty to 3% from 2%. Mining companies operating in the country are often able to negotiate tax holidays but a World Bank study late last year suggested the country should lower its corporate tax rate of 35% and simplify its tax regime.

There was some concern earlier in the year when the Namibian Government put a moratorium on new uranium exploration licences, however this has had no discernable effect on the Australian companies operating in the region.

As for the infrastructure in Namibia – aside from the excellent roads – water and power supply could be an impediment to any large mining company setting up in the area, and both are a problem for many African countries.

Australian research firm Hartleys notes that Namibia imports around half of its power from South Africa, which is struggling to meet its own internal power needs. Namibia's own power usage is growing and the Government has moved to expand the national power utility's capacity through a coal plant as well as gas power from the Kudu gas fields, 170km offshore.

The Namibian water utility has also committed to building a desalination plant by the end of 2009 with water to go to uranium miners – both existing and new.

These moves have been welcomed by companies operating in the area as further signs of the Government's commitment to the mining industry and the contribution it makes to the Namibian economy.

And then there's the population of Namibia. Most companies operating in the country employ large numbers of local people, which not only helps boost the country's GDP and deal with the poverty and related issues such as illness, it also drives down operating costs for companies.

Both Bannerman and Extract, for example, employ large numbers of Namibian staff operating the drill rigs and working as geologists, driller's assistants and labourers.

Extract has even hired local staff to help the company construct a camp at its Husab project – even down to edging the roads with stones to keep four-wheel drives on the path and avoid damage to the Erongo national park.

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