Regional
Does DRC have a monopoly over region's mineral resources?
Following
the signing, on February 21, of a memorandum of understanding between the
European Union and Rwanda aimed at integrating sustainable value chains for
critical and strategic raw materials, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi
turned his nose up in protest.
“It’s
a provocation in very bad taste,” said Tshisekedi, during a live exchange with
reporters on national television, adding that Rwanda should not export wealth
that it does not have.
Tshisekedi
often alleges that Rwanda plunders mineral resources from the Democratic
Republic of Congo, an allegation that Kigali denies.
Looking
the way Congolese leaders have been claiming that Rwanda has no minerals; one
would think that DRC is the only country with mineral resources in the region.
“Do
these minerals stop at Rwanda borders,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame asked in
2017. “Science should be used to find the facts so that, for once, we put an
end to speculation and conspiracy theories about Rwanda’s resources.”
Since
colonial time, Belgian mining companies were extracting mineral resources from
Rwanda. In 1989, Régie d’Exploitation et de Développement des Mines (REDEMI), a
public company was established to carry on with mining and exploration.
Documented
reports indicate that from 1930 to 1968, Rwanda’s mineral production increased
from 20 per cent to 42.5 per cent of all foreign exchange earnings of the
country. Between 1969 and 1973, the share of mineral revenues decreased from
42.5 per cent to 21.6 per cent due to a lack of investment.
The Rwandan
government has been encouraging investment in the mining sector, with an
ambitious plan to exploit the vast natural resources beneath the country’s
hills and valleys.
In
2013, Rwanda became the world’s single largest exporter of Coltan (tantalum).
The country exported 2,466,025 kilos of tantalum, accounting for 28 per cent of
total 8,807,232 kilos of tantalum produced globally. Total revenue from Coltan
was $134.5 million.
“Rwanda
has not only enough Coltan but of a very high quality,” Kagame said in 2015.
Rwanda
Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) crossed the $1 billion mark in export
revenue generated in 2023, representing a 43 per cent increase from $772
million recorded in 2022.
Kinshasa
never acknowledges its internal problems and Rwanda’s concern on FDLR’s
operations in eastern DRC, but opted to constantly accusing Rwanda of
destabilizing the area for plundering mineral resources.
The
accusation is irrational, as Rwanda is a member state of the ICGLR Mineral
Tracking and Certification Scheme whose aim is to provide for sustainable
conflict-free mineral chains in and between Member States of the International
Conference on the Great Lakes Region with a view to eliminating support to
armed groups that sustain or prolong conflict.
Rwanda’s
minerals are certified and comply with international standards. The real
plunderers of Congolese minerals are well known, but DRC pretends to be unaware
of them.