Trade Minister reaffirms commitment to mineral processing amidst sanctions

Rwanda remains resolute in its commitment to enhancing the value of its mineral exports, despite facing opposition from some countries, according to Minister of Trade and Industry Prudence Sebahizi. Sebahizi made the observation on Thursday, March 27 in Kigali, during the general assembly of the National Consultative Forum of Political Organizations (NFPO), where he delivered a presentation on the country's policy and strategies to promote trade and economic cooperation with other nations. At the meeting, Frank Habineza, the President of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, asked about sanctions that were recently imposed on a gold refinery in Rwanda – Gasabo Gold Refinery - which he said is an important facility to the country – through supporting processed mineral exports “I want to know whether the sanctions imposed on it cannot have effect on processed mineral exports,” he said, asking whether there are measures taken to deal with the issue. On March 17, the European Union, among others, imposed sanctions on Gasabo gold Refinery, alleging that it was implicated in illegal extraction and trafficking of gold from DR Congo. ALSO READ: Rwanda and critical minerals: An expert’s view on resources, origins, future In response, Sebahizi said that currently, Rwanda is among few African countries that started a programme to process minerals before exporting them. Some countries, he said, oppose Rwanda’s efforts to add value to its minerals, including gold. Such opposition is not surprising, he pointed out, as countries that rely on importing raw minerals to fuel their own industries, are threatened by Rwanda’s push to process its own minerals. Currently, he said, those who seek mining concessions, are required to mine but also add value to minerals. He said “if you look at statistics, you find that most of our processed gold is exported to the Arab country [United Arab Emirates],” not in Europe. ALSO READ: UAE was Rwanda’s largest export destination in 2023 – RDB Sebahizi stressed the importance of diversifying markets and achieving self-reliance in the face of pressures from some countries, as Rwanda continues its mineral processing journey. “The strategy is to look for different markets such that when Europeans decide to deny market to us, we have an alternative [export] destination,” he said, also pointing to the possibility for Rwanda to make products derived from those minerals for export purposes. He said that the country has many minerals that can be processed into metals and glass. “If we can metals and glass [from our minerals] today, their imposition of a decision [sanctions] against us would be meaningless; instead we would need them for the continuous development of our metal and glass factories,” he said, describing the EU sanctions as an eye-opener for the country regarding the management of its resources. “The lesson we should draw from that is self-reliance because we cannot continue living according to the others’ wishes,” he said. Under the National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), the government of Rwanda has a target to generate about $2.2 billion in annual mineral exports by 2029, up from $1.1 billion generated in 2023, according to the government’s five-year year development plan (2024/2025 - 2028/2029). As per NST2, the growth in the mining sector will be led by a combination of mineral exploration, professionalization of artisanal miners, adoption of environmentally friendly mining practices as well as enhanced processing and value addition of key minerals. Rwanda’s current mineral tax law puts an emphasis on promoting value addition for higher revenues, through setting additional tax rates applicable to exported raw minerals – to discourage such a practice.

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Trade Minister reaffirms commitment to mineral processing amidst sanctions