Mining in Rwanda

Lessons

Senior 4 · Geography

Mining in Rwanda

4 lessons

Lesson 3 of 4

Importance and Products of Mining

25 min

Twelve times larger in nine years

Figure 4 traces the value of Rwanda's mineral exports from 2015 to 2024.

Figure 4. Mineral export earnings, 2015–2024. Drawn by Ganzaa from NISR (2025).

Earnings grew almost every year, with a dip in 2021 and a leap in 2024. What did this money do for Rwanda, and what products lie behind the numbers?

Worked example 1: how fast did earnings grow?

Data (NISR, 2025). US$149.1 million in 2015; US$1,104.7 million in 2023; US$1,755.0 million in 2024.

\frac{1\,755.0}{149.1} = 11.8 \qquad r = \left( \frac{1\,755.0}{149.1} \right)^{\frac{1}{9}} - 1 = 0.315 \approx 31.5\%\ \text{a year}

\text{2023 to 2024: } \frac{1\,755.0 - 1\,104.7}{1\,104.7} \times 100 = 58.9\%

Interpretation. Earnings multiplied almost twelvefold, an average of about 31.5% a year. But the 2021 fall (−29.6%) shows that earnings swing with prices and output; a single good year is not a trend.

Definition

Value addition (beneficiation): processing a raw material into a more valuable product at home, such as smelting cassiterite concentrate into tin metal. Foreign exchange: money in foreign currencies, earned from exports and needed to pay for imports. Royalty: a payment to the state for the right to extract a mineral.

Products of mining

Raw material	Product	Where it goes
Cassiterite concentrate	Tin metal from the smelter near Kigali	Exported to electronics makers
Coltan and wolframite concentrates	Tagged, bagged concentrates	Exported for tantalum and tungsten refining
Gold	Refined gold from Rwanda's gold refinery	Exported; it earned US$1,509 million in 2024
Limestone	Clinker and cement (CIMERWA)	Home construction
Iron ore	Steel (A1 Iron & Steel, planned to start in 2025–26)	Home construction
Sand, gravel, stone, clay	Aggregates, bricks, tiles	Home construction
Methane	Electricity	The national grid (Unit 15)

Sources: REMA (2021); MINICOM (2025); NISR (2025).

Importance of mining

Importance	Evidence
Earns foreign exchange	US$1,755.0 million in 2024 (NISR, 2025); mineral export growth reached US$1.6 billion in the 2024–25 financial year (MINICOM, 2025)
Adds to GDP	Mining and quarrying: Frw 438 billion in 2025, 1.9% of GDP, with real growth of 17% (NISR, 2026)
Creates jobs	85,498 people in 2025, 1.8% of the employed (NISR, 2026); 10% of industrial jobs (MINICOM, 2025)
Attracts investment	US$338 million registered in 2024–25 (MINICOM, 2025)
Raw materials for industry and building	Cement production (non-metallic minerals) grew 35% in 2025 (NISR, 2026)
Government revenue	Taxes and royalties on mines and quarries, set by ministerial order (REMA, 2021)
Value addition and skills	A tin smelter and a gold refinery; mechanisation brings technical jobs
Energy	Methane from Lake Kivu generates electricity
Growth of settlements and roads	Mining towns such as Muhanga

Worked example 2: big in exports, small in GDP?

Data. Mineral exports in 2024: US$1,755.0 million (NISR, 2025, from RMB). Domestic goods exports in 2024: $431.61 + 537.64 + 667.00 + 677.45 = 2\,313.70$ US$ million (NISR trade reports, sum of four quarters). Mining and quarrying in 2025: Frw 438 billion of a GDP of Frw 23,387 billion (NISR, 2026).

\frac{1\,755.0}{2\,313.7} \times 100 = 75.9\%\ \text{of goods exports} \qquad \frac{438}{23\,387} \times 100 = 1.9\%\ \text{of GDP}

Interpretation. The two series come from different sources, so the 75.9% is only a guide, yet the contrast is real. Export value counts the full price of what is sold. GDP counts only the value added in Rwanda, after subtracting inputs such as imported ore, fuel and machinery. A sector can dominate exports while adding little to GDP; more processing at home raises the value added.

Warning

Do not overstate jobs. Mining is important for exports, but it employed only 1.8% of workers in 2025; agriculture employed 39.1% (NISR, 2026). Say "a leading export earner", not "the main employer".

RBA news, February 2020: "New reforms in the mining sector to turn the industry into a key driver of Rwanda's growth". Note the reforms described and why a Rwandan tin smelter qualifying for a responsible-minerals programme matters to buyers.

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Practice

Name four products of mining in Rwanda and the raw material of each.
Explain five ways in which mining contributes to Rwanda's development, with evidence.
Using Figure 4, calculate the percentage change in mineral export earnings from 2020 to 2021.
Explain why tagging concentrate matters to buyers.
Mining and quarrying added Frw 354 billion in 2024 and Frw 438 billion in 2025 (current prices). Calculate the increase in current prices.
Explain what value addition is and why Rwanda wants more of it.
"Mining matters more to Rwanda's exports than to its people." Discuss.

Show answersHide answers

Tin metal (cassiterite); refined gold (gold ore and concentrate); cement and clinker (limestone); construction aggregates and bricks (stone, sand, clay); electricity (methane).
Foreign exchange (US$1,755.0 million, 2024); GDP (1.9%, 2025); jobs (85,498); investment (US$338 million registered); raw materials for building (cement +35%); revenue from taxes and royalties; skills and value addition; energy.
$\frac{516.2 - 733.0}{733.0} \times 100 = -29.6\%$ , a fall of 29.6%.
It records the mine of origin, so buyers can check that minerals were mined legally and did not finance conflict; untraced minerals are hard to sell to large electronics firms.
$\frac{438 - 354}{354} \times 100 = 23.7\%$ (current prices include price changes; real growth was 17%).
Processing raw minerals into more valuable products at home (smelting, refining). It raises earnings per tonne, creates skilled jobs, and increases the value added counted in GDP.
For: about three-quarters of goods exports by value but only 1.8% of jobs and 1.9% of GDP. Against: 85,498 jobs support many households; quarrying supplies the houses and roads people use; tax revenue funds services. Mining is mainly an export earner, but its local effects on jobs and land are large where it operates.

Quick check

Mining was about three-quarters of goods exports but only 1.9% of GDP. What best explains this?

Key points

Mineral export earnings rose from US$149.1 million (2015) to US$1,755.0 million (2024), about 31.5% a year, with a dip in 2021.
Products: tin metal, refined gold, 3T concentrates, cement, aggregates, bricks, electricity from methane; steel planned.
Importance: foreign exchange (about three-quarters of goods exports, 2024), 1.9% of GDP and 17% growth (2025), 85,498 jobs, investment, revenue, raw materials, skills, energy, towns.
Value added, not sales, is what counts in GDP: more processing at home raises it.

Sources and credits

Sources: Rwanda Statistical Yearbook 2025, NISR, Table 5.5, from RMB (export values 2015–2024); Formal External Trade in Goods, Fourth Quarter 2025, NISR, 2026, Appendix 6.1a (domestic exports by quarter); GDP National Accounts 2025, NISR, 2026 (mining value added, growth, cement); Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, NISR, 2026 (employment); Annual Report 2024–2025, MINICOM, 2025 (exports, investment, industrial jobs, A1 Iron & Steel, CIMERWA); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report 2021, REMA (smelter, refinery, taxes on mines and quarries).

Figure 4, the tables and the worked examples were drawn and written by Ganzaa.

Photo: At the tagging station, Fairphone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Video: "New reforms in the mining sector to turn the industry into a key driver of Rwanda's growth", RwandaTV (RBA), embedded from YouTube. The rest of the lesson and the exercises were written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Twelve times larger in nine years

2Products of mining

3Importance of mining

Twelve times larger in nine years

Products of mining

Importance of mining