Rwandan minerals ‘must overcome prejudice of West’

The government and investors have reiterated commitment to fight Western prejudices and segregations in the international market, which affect the progress of mineral exports from Rwanda and the region.Whereas there are high hopes on the mineral sector, government officials believe that unrealistic expectations from international mineral buyers may make it hard for the country to achieve its revenue targets from the sector.“Rwanda has implemented all the required national, regional and international regulations so that minerals can be traded transparently and easily on the international market. But still, the market is largely sceptic and you wonder what else we can do,” John Kanyangira, the director of support services in mineral investment at the Ministry of Natural Resources, said.Kanyangira was yesterday addressing a two-day workshop for media professionals organised by the ministry in Kigali.“This type of prejudice undermines international rules that govern free trade. Only rich nations benefit, while the developing nations suffer, simply because they are denied the right to export despite fulfilling every regulation that was introduced,” he said.Tagging schemeAs required by the Dodd Frank Act, an American legislation, Rwanda implemented the international mineral tagging and traceability scheme known as ITSCi, which is a must for DR Congo and all its adjourning countries. Failure to implement the scheme by any state would result into an embargo on its exports in three minerals, namely tin, coltan and wolfram.But Rwanda finds itself on the backside even after implementing ITSCi, whereby its mineral exports are facing a “de facto embargo.” “We are forced to export to Asian countries such as China and Malaysia because there is a form of de facto embargo in Europe against our minerals, which is not backed by international trade laws, but prejudices,” Janet Mutesi, the managing partner of Pyramid Mining Company, said.“Buyers are using this excuse to offer us low prices for our minerals, because they know that we no longer have access to larger markets.”However, Mutesi, who is also the vice chairperson of the Rwanda Mining Association, is optimistic that despite the challenges, the mining standards which Rwanda implemented will bear fruit in the long term.“Rwanda recently hosted the international Summit on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains. Several western officials and mineral end users from large companies had the chance to see firsthand how our mineral sector has transformed. We hope that soon the mindset will change and we will be able to access international markets,” she said.While attending the summit, in November, the Chairman of Organisation for Economic Development, Roel Niewenkamp, urged European countries not to shun minerals from Rwanda.The sector employs more than 35,000 people in the country.

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Rwandan minerals ‘must overcome prejudice of West’