GABORONE (Reuters) – Botswana will cut corporate tax by up to 77 percent for investors in a mining town southeast of the capital, the trade and industry minister said on Tuesday, part of a package to attract them to a region hit by the collapse of BCL Mine.

BCL Mine was put under provisional liquidation in October last year resulting in close to 8,000 jobs being lost in the Selebi-Phikwe region of 50,000 people.

Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Vincent Seretse said the measures include fiscal incentives, government off-take, provision of land and a one-stop service centre.

The fiscal incentives include five percent corporate tax for the first five years, 10 percent corporate tax thereafter and zero customs duty on imported raw materials.

Corporate tax in Botswana stands at 22 percent while companies in manufacturing and financial services and those registered in the Innovation Hub pay 15 percent corporate tax.

(Writing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng, editing by David Evans)