Rwanda's mineral export revenues reached $1.7 billion (Rwf2.38 trillion) in 2024, with gold raking in $1.5 billion, according to Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente. The country's mineral export revenues have risen have from $373 million in 2017.

Ngirente, who presented government actions in accelerating industrial production and exports for sustainable economic growth in Parliament on Friday, March 28, said gold exports rose from 2.4tonnes which generated about $90 million in 2017 to more than 19 tonnes in 2024.

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Gold tops

Gold is extracted from different mines including in Miyove in Gicumbi District, Burera, Rulindo in Northern Province as well as Nyamasheke District in Western Province, Ngirente said.

"Rwanda has various gold mining sites, and there are others we are gradually discovering,” he said, adding that since 2020 the country’s exported gold is processed, thanks to the establishment of Gasabo Gold Refinery.

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Exports of other minerals, such as coltan, cassiterite, and wolfram, also went up during the seven years of National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), which was concluded in June 2024, he said.

Rwanda’s coltan export rose to $99 million in 2024 from $61 million in 2017. Cassiterite (tin) revenues rose to $96 million in 2024 from $50 million in 2017.

Wolfram exports generated to $36 million in 2024 up from $13 million in 2017.

Under the National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), the government of targets $2.2 billion in annual mineral exports by 2029.

"There are people who think that minerals are available in a few places in Rwanda. I would like to explain that minerals are in many places in Rwanda," Ngirente told the plenary session of two houses of Parliament.

Contributing factors to the growth

Ngirente said the increase in Rwanda’s mineral exports was due to the transition from an artisanal to a more mechanized mining sector as well as an increase in investment in the sector.

"As a result, the quantity of output increased, and new minerals such as lithium and beryllium were discovered," he said.

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Investments in Rwanda’s mining sector increased nearly fivefold, from $25 million in 2010 to $121 million in 2023.

Ngirente also said value addition to the minerals and diversified export markets meant that Rwanda’s minerals sell at competitive prices.

In addition to the gold refinery, Rwanda has two more mineral processing factories, for one for cassiterite and the other for coltan.