Rwanda has announced work to expedite the enactment of a new mining law in order to make the sector an even greater contributor to economic development. The Government now intends to have the new law, now at the draft stage, passed by Parliament before June in order to strengthen the
legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks, improving knowledge and skills, raising productivity and establishing new mines, and increasing value addition. The Rwandan mining sector is transforming from a publicly run to a private sector industry focusing on increased investment and production, as such, the draft law requires investors to spend a stipulated amount on exploration and allow the Government to ensure there are no ‘idle’ unused licences. Rwanda currently has around 440 active mine sites participating in the iTSCi traceability and due diligence project, and several more that are inactive or in the process of entering the system. Rwanda believes that the new law will raise investment in the sector to $500-million and create 100 000 jobs by 2020, in addition to increasing exports to $240-million a year over the same period. Further information can be found in the Mining Weekly report, available here.