RWANDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aimery de Schoutheete and Penina Ngabire, Liedekerke Great Lakes
to expropriation in the public interest (the “Expropriation Law”); and • after obtaining an ML, the LH enters into an agreement 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 under - going a transformation from purely civil law to a more hybrid legal system that incorporates cer - tain aspects of common 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 parlia - ment and government. From 2018 to 2024, mining activities in Rwanda (from exploration to export) were governed by Law No 58/2018 of 13 August 2018 on min - ing and quarry operations. This Law was sub - sequently repealed and replaced by Law No 072/2024 of 26 June 2024 (the “2024 Mining Law”). The 2024 Mining Law is supplemented by various presidential orders, ministerial orders and regulations issued by the RMB, most of which were already in place and remain valid. 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 products located in Rwanda are vested in the state, notwithstanding 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. In the case of discovery of minerals or quarry deposits, the landowner or lawful occupier
is fairly compensated in accordance with the Expropriation Law and such land is then regis - tered on the State. 1.4 Role of the State in Mining Law and Regulations Role of the State The State, through the RMB, serves as the gran - tor-regulator of mining activity. The RMB grants rights to explore, mine, process, trade and export minerals based on licence fees (payable on application, maintenance and renewal of a licence) and upon fulfilment of the requirements provided for in the 2024 Mining Law. The RMB also regulates the mining sector by issuing regulations governing mineral, quarry, oil and gas resources, and ensuring compliance by licence holders with the provisions of the laws, regulations, guidelines and standards governing the mining industry. No Mandatory Government Participation There is no mandatory government joint venture, contracting or participation. However, the 2024 Mining Law provides that the government may acquire shares in mining or quarry operations on such terms as agreed upon between the LH and the government. In practice, there are only a few examples of government participation in the mining sector. Two examples are LuNa Smelter Ltd, a joint ven - ture (JV) between Polish Luma Holding (75%) and the Rwandan state-owned Ngali Holdings (25%), which operates a smelter in Kigali and exploration licences in the east of Rwanda, and Nyabarongo Mining and Exploration Limited, a joint Venture (JV) between Rio Tinto (75%) and the government of Rwanda (25%).
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