The figures were released on Monday 5th December 2022 at the launch of Mining Week in Rwanda.

Held for the fifth time, the ceremony which coincided with the celebration of Mining Day at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village, was graced by different officials including Prime Minister, Dr. Edouard Ngirente and the CEO of RMB, Amb. Yamina Karitanyi among others.

The week will offer mining industry members not only a space for rich panel discussions, but for sharing the industry’s best practices, and refresher courses through training, and opportunities for new partnerships.

Amb. Karitanyi said that the week was organized to bring together sector players to discuss best practices and make it more meaningful to national economy.

She highlighted that the output of Rwanda’s minerals including cassiterite, coltan, tungsten and gold continues to increase.

Amb. Karitanyi disclosed that the country currently registers 158 mining companies noting that the sector presents many investment opportunities be it in minerals extraction and value addition.

In 2020, Amb. Karitanyi said, Rwanda generated US$733 million from minerals’ exports up from US$373 of 2017.

In 2021, revenues dropped to US$516 million owing to reduced prices on the international market. According to Amb. Karitanyi, the year 2022 is promising in consideration of the US$585 generated in the first nine months.

She attributed the increase in revenues to Rwanda’s initiative to establish plants adding value to minerals before exportation.

These include gold and cassiterite refineries. Amb. Karitanyi also revealed that the country mulls opening a coltan processing plant in the near future.

The mining sector in Rwanda currently employs 46,000 people with a target to increase the number to more than 100,000 by 2024.

Premier Ngirente said that Rwanda’s mining potential is yet to be fully exploited and reiterated the country’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to develop the mining sector ‘to sustainably deliver good results’.

Rwanda launched a gold refinery with capacity to process six tonnes per month in 2019.