RWANDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aimery de Schoutheete and Penina Ngabire, Liedekerke Great Lakes
1. Mining Law: General Framework 1.1 Main Features of the Mining Industry Update Rwanda’s mining sector has been developing rapidly in recent years. Today, mining is the country’s largest export revenue earner, followed by tourism. Rwanda is presented as one of the world’s largest producers of the 3Ts (tin, tantalum and tungsten) and exports gold, lithium and gemstones. The government of Rwanda released a new Min - ing Investment Pitchbook (2025), unveiling ten mineral blocks now open to investors including blocks for tin, beryllium and lithium signalling expanding opportunity for exploration and value addition. Future Objectives Rwanda’s mining sector consists mainly of artisanal and small-scale mining. The country aims to attract international investment to modernise, industrialise and expand the sector. Similarly, the sector’s exports are mainly raw mineral concentrates and not metals. Rwanda’s near-future ambition is to become a mineral processing and val - ue-addition hub in the region and to attract investors to set up modern value-addition processing in the country. To achieve its objectives, Rwanda recently established the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) and developed a modern legal framework. Rwanda also offers several incentives to mining investors, as mining is considered a priority sector. Fundamental Legal Principles Governing the Mining Industry In a nutshell, the following fundamental principles apply to any mining activity in Rwanda: • all rights of ownership and control of minerals or quarry products under, or upon any land in Rwanda are vested in the state, notwithstanding personal ownership of land and other properties thereon; • mineral exploration, exploitation, processing and trading can only be carried out by a licence holder
(LH), ie, an entity that has a mineral licence (ML) or a quarry licence (QL) from the RMB (to date, the RMB records 940 active licences in total, includ - ing about 21 mineral exploration licences and 194 mineral mining licences); • the LH is required to submit to the RMB an envi - ronmental and social impact assessment approved by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) prior to commencing operations; • in the case of discovery of a mineral or quarry deposit, the landowner or lawful occupier is fairly compensated in accordance with Law No 32/2015 of 11 June 2015 relating to expropriation in the public interest (the “Expropriation Law”); and • after obtaining an ML, the LH enters into an agree - ment with the state to determine the specific conditions under which the mining activities will be carried out. 1.2 Legal System and Sources of Mining Law Rwanda is a civil law legal system now undergoing a transformation from purely civil law to a more hybrid legal system that incorporates certain aspects of com - mon law. In practice, the law remains heavily codified. Rwanda has a unitary system of government and all the powers and responsibilities with respect to mining are allocated to the Rwandan parliament and govern - ment. From 2018 to 2024, mining activities in Rwanda (from exploration to export) were governed by Law No 58/2018 of 13 August 2018 on mining and quarry operations. This Law was subsequently repealed and replaced by Law No 072/2024 of 26 June 2024 (the “2024 Mining Law”). The 2024 Mining Law is sup - plemented by various presidential orders, ministerial orders and regulations issued by the RMB, which con - tinue to apply unless they are inconsistent with the 2024 Mining Law. 1.3 Ownership of Mineral Resources Pursuant to Article 4 of the 2024 Mining Law, all rights of ownership and control of minerals or quarry prod - ucts located in Rwanda are vested in the state, not - withstanding private ownership of the land where the products are located. This is confirmed by Article 43 of Law No 27/2021 of 10 June 2021 on governing land.
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