Rwanda’s ongoing efforts to draw foreign investment and improve key sectors are bearing fruit, with earnings from mineral exports more than doubling last year.
Earnings surged to US$373 million last year from US$166 million the previous 12 months, according to a report in CNBC Africa. Francis Gatare, chief executive at Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), said growth was ‘…driven by very strong commodity prices on the global market’.
The minerals sector is second only to tourism as a forex earner for Rwanda. The country is also preparing to install two smelters, to add value to its commodities – particularly tin and coltan – hoping to push earnings to US$600 million by 2019.
