Artisanal mining is one of the riskiest occupations in Rwanda, with many workers having lost their lives over the years due to failure by mining companies to observe safety standards.  

However, there has been a renewed effort to turn things around in the sector – which is largely informal – following the establishment of the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board in 2017.

The Board has since embarked on a wide-range of reforms, including introducing tougher requirements for companies seeking operating licences. Operators are now required to have greater capacity in terms of equipment and safety standards.

Importantly, operators are required to take care of the environment in areas where they operate from, as opposed to the past when they would dig up large tracts of land and later disappear without restoring the ecological integrity of the sites.

These tougher conditions will naturally reduce the number of operators, effectively enabling the much-needed clean-up in the sector. Already, up to 33 companies have failed to meet the revised criteria meaning they cannot get licences.

Yet this is just the first step.

The bigger challenge lies in enforcement of these rules.

As many as 41 companies hold exploration licenses while up to 214 have mining licenses, with another 47 having quarry licences, across the country. The field is still relatively crowded but what matters is to ensure that these operators strictly adhere to the conditions set out in the new guidelines.

If implemented accordingly, these interventions will go a long way in curbing fatal incidents in the sector, as well as improve the living conditions of workers and protect the environment.

But more needs to be done in terms of policy. For instance, there is need to urgently set minimum wage as well as minimum age. This would help check exploitation of workers and child labour.