The recent revelation that up to 70 per cent of the country’s mineral resources remain untapped due to the use of traditional tools and methods of extraction is as revealing as it is exciting. It goes on to show the potential the country possesses in its underbelly.

As disclosed by different officials during a recent media tour that saw journalists visit different mining concessions and processing plants in the country, mineral activities in Rwanda are mostly done by artisanal miners who heavily depend on archaic implements to do their work.

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Consequently, between 30 and 40 per cent of the available mineral resources are extracted, leaving the biggest chuck unexploited which definitely affects the growth of our economy given that the mining sector is the among the top revenue earners in the country.

According to statistics from Rwanda Mining Board (RMB), the country’s mineral exports raked over $362 million and $241 million in the second and third quarter of 2023, respectively. The country’s major mineral exports include gold, cassiterite, coltan, wolfram, and gemstones, among others.

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Mining is therefore an indispensable sector for the country to achieve its highly ambitious development aspirations and we must pull all stops to realise its full potential.

There is a silver lining to this situation. It means that there is an opportunity for the private sector, both domestic and foreign to invest in technology that would not only ensure the safety of miners, but also increase the quantity of extracted mineral resources.

The government through RMB has embarked on a number of initiatives to address this, including introducing incentives to attract modern processing equipment from the private sector, and encouraging local production of such machines for sustainable mineral extraction.

It is therefore incumbent upon the private sector to jump on these opportunities to invest in technology that will boost the mining sector to significantly increase the minerals we get from the different concessions across the country.

Rwanda is known for its pragmatism when it comes to leveraging technology to power the country’s transformation and our major source of income should not be the one to be left behind for it has a repo effect.

Similarly, more investment should be realised towards processing of mineral resources such that the minerals extracted is not exported raw, but have value added to it to be able to fetch better price on the international market.

With such undertakings, there is no doubt that the ambitious target of having minerals generate an annual income of $1.5bn will be achieved without doubt.

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Technology should also be deployed towards exploration of mineral deposits in different parts of the country because there is still more beneath us.