Rwanda’s mining sector has an ambitious target. The Government wants to generate up to US$1.5 billion annually from the sector by 2024. To achieve this target there is a need for comprehensive reforms across the industry’s value chain considering that the sector generated only about $350 million last financial year.

While the Government has undertaken structural and legal reforms in an effort to change the mining outlook, a lot more needs to be done. Financing is one of the major challenges with the sector seemingly attracting the least attention from traditional lenders.

In addition, the sector is undermined by the dominance of small-scale operators across the value chain, informal and artisanal mining activities, skills and technology gaps, among others.

While the last few years have seen efforts to lay a firm foundation for the sector, including instituting a new legal framework and investing in value addition infrastructure, there is a need for a deliberate effort to take the sector to the next level.

The mining sector holds great potential but it will remain untapped until real investments, sustainable practices and enforcement of regulation are attained.

But there is hope because there has been growing political will and an attempt to professionalise and streamline things in recent years.

As such, the East and Central Africa Mining Forum, which opens Monday in Kigali, is an opportunity to build on achievements hitherto made. It’s an opportunity to learn from best practices, court new investors and partnerships, and truly raise standards.

It’s about time the country’s mining sector took off.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com