Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T15:52:43.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Addressing the Capacity Building Challenge in the Mining Sector in Rwanda: The Implications of Rwanda's 2014 Mining and Quarry Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2017

Chilenye Nwapi
Chilenye Nwapi*
Affiliation:
Canadian Institute of Resources Law
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Few mining countries face capacity building challenges comparable to Rwanda's. Worsened by the genocide, a 2009 report put the number of mining scientists in Rwanda at 40, fewer than four below the age of 40. The government has however recognized that local skills development is crucial to the potential of mining to contribute to the country's economic development. This has been demonstrated through a series of reforms, culminating in the mining code of 2014. This article considers two issues critical to capacity building in the mining sector: formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining and the promotion of local content / procurement. Its main thesis is that the code provides limited opportunities for local mining capacity building and its local content provisions are rather nervously worded. This is worsened by the fact that Rwanda has no freestanding local content legislation. The article calls for Rwanda to adopt such legislation, with specific provisions on local skills training.

Keywords

Artisanal miningsmall-scale miningcapacity buildingformalisationlocal procurementRwanda
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of African Law , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , October 2017 , pp. 355 - 372
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Research fellow, Canadian Institute of Resources Law, University of Calgary, Canada.

References

1 Rwanda Development Board (RDB) “Mining sector report: Rwanda skills survey 2012” at viii, available at: <http://www.lmis.gov.rw/scripts/publication/reports/Mining.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

2 Ibid.

3 African Union Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide (July 2000), paras 14.6, 17.5 and 17.7, available at: <http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4d1da8752.pdf> (last accessed 3 August 2017).

4 J van Teeffelen “The EU raw material policy and mining in Rwanda: Policy coherence for development in practice” (Evert Vermeer Foundation, Netherlands, February 2012) at 25, available at: <http://www.fairpolitics.nl/doc/Impact%20Study%20FINAL.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

5 Ibid.

6 RDB “Mining sector report”, above at note 1.

7 Government of Rwanda Ministry of Natural Resources (MINIRENA) “A revised Rwandan mining policy: Transforming Rwanda's mining industry” (October 2009) at 13, available at: <http://rnra.rw/uploads/media/Mining_policy_draft-sent_to_the_minister-30-10-09.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

8 Ibid.

9 The link between capacity building and poverty reduction is well recognized. As the International Monetary Fund has noted, institutional capacity building is essential for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. See International Monetary Fund “The role of capacity building in poverty reduction” (March 2002), available at: <https:// www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2002/031402.htm> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

10 UNDP “Poverty reduction and human rights: A practice note” (June 2003) at iv, available at: <http://www.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/democratic-governance/dg-publications-for-website/poverty-reduction-and-human-rights-practice-note/HRPN_(poverty)En.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

11 MINIRENA “A revised Rwandan mining policy”, above at note 7 at 13.

12 (2014) 26 Official Gazette 16, available at:  <http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/53fb08cd4.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

13 Perks, R “Digging into the past: Critical reflections on Rwanda's pursuit for a domestic mineral economy” (2013) 7/4 Journal of Eastern African Studies 732 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 737, pointing out that the oldest preserved African iron furnace dates back to 689 BC and is said to originate from Gasiza in today's Muyunzwe district of Rwanda.

14 MINIRENA “A revised Rwandan mining policy”, above at note 7 at 5.

15 Ibid.

16 Perks “Digging into the past”, above at note 13 at 739. See also id “Re-framing the nature and success of the ‘post-conflict’ mineral reform agenda in Rwanda” (2016) 3 Extractive Industries & Society 329 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 335, describing the subcontracting model as “a practice where miners worked on mining concessions but had a loose relationship to the mine owner”.

17 Perks “Digging into the past”, ibid.

18 MINIRENA “A revised Rwandan mining policy”, above at note 7 at 5. See also Rwanda Geology and Mining Authority “Strategic plan 2010–2013” (final draft, April 2010) at 5, available at: <http://rnra.rw/uploads/media/Stragetegic_Plan-OGMR-April_2010_1_validated.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

19 MINIRENA, id at 5–6.

20 Ibid.

21 Perks “Re-framing the nature”, above at note 16 at 335.

22 Id at 336.

23 Ibid.

24 MINIRENA “A revised Rwandan mining policy”, above at note 7 at 6.

25 Perks “Re-framing the nature”, above at note 16 at 336.

26 Ibid.

27 Id at 337.

28 van Teeffelen “The EU raw material policy”, above at note 4 at 25.

29 Ibid.

30 RGMA “Strategic plan 2010–2013”, above at note 18 at 15.

31 Law No 25/2007 of 27 June 2007 Establishing Rwanda Geology and Mines Authority (OGMR) and Determining its Responsibilities, Organization and Functioning, available at: <http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---ilo_aids/documents/legaldocument/wcms_232681.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

32 Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Local Government “5 years capacity building strategy for local governments (2011–2015)” (December 2010) at 10, available at: <www.minecofin.gov.rw/fileadmin/templates/documents/LG_DIstricts/Fiscal_Decentralisation_document/Local%20Government%20Capacity%20Building%20Strategy-%202011-2015.pdf> (last accessed 31 August 2017).

33 RGMA “Strategic plan 2010–2013”, above at note 18 at 6.

34 Ibid.

35 Law No 53/2010 of 25 January 2011 Establishing Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) and Determining its Mission, Organization and Functioning (2011) 10 Official Gazette 5, available at: <http://www.parliament.gov.rw/fileadmin/Images2013/Presidential_Order_determining_official_holidays___N___06.01_du_16.02._2011............Page_41.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

36 European Commission “Tackling the challenges in commodity markets and on raw materials” (COM (2011) 25 final) at 12, available at: <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0025:FIN:en:PDF> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

37 RDB “Mining sector report”, above at note 1 at 1.

38 Siegel, S and Veiga, MM “Artisanal and small-scale mining as an extralegal economy: De Soto and the redefinition of ‘formalization’” (2009) 34 Resources Policy 51 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 52. See also Maconachie, R and Hilson, G “Safeguarding livelihoods or exacerbating poverty? Artisanal mining and formalization in West Africa” (2011) 35 Natural Resources Forum 293 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 294, defining formalization as the “process of registering and organizing unregulated mining”.

39 JJ Hinton “Communities and small scale mining: An integrated review for development planning” (Communities and Small-Scale Mining Initiative, Mining Department, World Bank Group, 2005) at 7, available at: <http://www.eisourcebook.org/cms/June%202013/CASM,%20an%20Integrated%20Review%20for%20Development%20Planning.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

40 Siegel and Veiga “Artisanal and small-scale mining”, above at note 38 at 51.

41 ILO “Social and labour issues in small-scale mines: Report for discussion at the tripartite meeting on social and labour issues in small-scale mines” (ILO Sectoral Activities Program, ILO, May 1999) at 86–87, available at: <http://www.unites.uqam.ca/gmf/globalmercuryforum/files/articles/small_scale_mining/General%20ILO%201999%20-%20Social%20and%20labour%20in%20small-scale%20mines.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

42 ECOSOC “Policy options and actions for expediting progress in implementation: Mining” (report of the secretary general, December 2010, Commission on Sustainable Development, 19th session), doc E/CN.17/2011/7, para 26(c), available at: <http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.17/2011/7&Lang=E> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

43 Langston, JD et al. “Comparative development benefits from small and large scale mines in North Sulawesi, Indonesia” (2015) 2 Extractive Industries & Society 435 Google Scholar.

44 Id at 436.

45 Veiga, MM and Beinhoff, C “UNECA Centers: A way to reduce mercury emissions from artisanal gold mining and provide badly needed training” (1997) 20/4 UN Environment Program - Industry and Environment 50 Google Scholar, cited in Siegel and Veiga “Artisanal and small-scale mining”, above at note 38 at 51.

46 Geenen, S “A dangerous bet: The challenges of formalizing artisanal mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo” (2012) 37 Resources Policy 323 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47 ILO “Social and labour issues”, above at note 41 at 86.

48 JJ Hinton “Artisanal and small scale mining in Uganda: Key issues, constraints and opportunities” (summary report prepared for Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Department of Geological Survey and Mines, Uganda, 2005) at 44, cited in Siegel and Veiga “Artisanal and small-scale mining”, above at note 38 at 51.

49 Siegel and Veiga, id at 52.

50 Langston et al “Comparative development benefits”, above at note 43 at 443.

51 See, for instance, UN Security Council Final Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, doc S/2002/1146, available at: <http://www.pcr.uu.se/digitalAssets/96/96819_congo_20021031.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017); UN Security Council Interim Report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, doc S/2010/252, available at: <http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2010/252> (last accessed 13 July 2017); UN Security Council Final Report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, doc S/2014/42, available at: <http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2014_42.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017); “The hill belongs to them: The need for international action on Congo's conflict minerals trade” (December 2010) Global Witness, available at: <https:// www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/library/The%20hill%20belongs%20to%20them141210.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

52 Bleischwitz, R, Dittrich, M and Pierdicca, C “Coltan from central Africa, international trade and implications for any certification” (2012) 37/1 Resources Policy 23 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 “The hill belongs to them”, above at note 51 at 12.

54 As a member of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, an inter-governmental organization comprising the countries in the African Great Lakes Region (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), Rwanda is a party to the Protocol Against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources as part of a pact on security, stability and development in the region. The adoption of the protocol represented the countries’ recognition of the link between the illegal exploitation of natural resources and conflict and instability in the region. Rwanda has issued a number of ministerial regulations (such as No 001/MINIFOM/2011 and No 002/2012/MINIRENA of 28 March 2012 on the Regional Certification Mechanism for Minerals) to implement the protocol domestically. Both of these sets of regulations were issued pursuant to Rwanda's 2008 mining and quarry law: Law No 37/2008 of 11 August 2008 on Mining and Quarry Exploitation. However, when Law No 13/2014 was adopted, it repealed Law No 37/2008 pursuant to which these regulations were issued, in language that makes no reference to the regulations. Further research is needed to ascertain the effect of this repeal on the continued legal validity of the regulations.

55 Langston et al “Comparative development benefits”, above at note 43 at 443.

56 Spiegel, SJ “Governance institutions, resource rights regimes, and the informal mining sector: Regulatory complexities in Indonesia” (2011) 40/1 World Development 200 Google Scholar.

57 Verbrugge, B “The economic logic of persistent informality: Artisanal and small-scale mining in the southern Philippines” (2015) 46/5 Development & Change 1023 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 1032–33.

58 Bockstael, S Van “The persistence of informality: Perspectives on the future of artisanal mining in Liberia” (2014) 62 Futures 11 Google Scholar.

59 Verbrugge “The economic logic”, above at note 57 at 1024.

60 Id at 1027.

61 Id at 1040.

62 Hilson, G “Farming, small-scale mining and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical overview” (2016) 3 Extractive Industries & Society 550 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hilson, G and McQuilken, J “Four decades of support for artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical review” (2014) 1 Extractive Industries & Society 112 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

63 Hilson “Farming”, id at 551.

64 M Barry (ed) “Regularizing informal mining: A summary of the proceedings of the international roundtable on artisanal mining” (organized by the World Bank, 17–19 May 1995, Industry and Energy Department occasional paper no 6, Washington, April 1996) at 1, available at: <https:// www.hsph.harvard.edu/mining/files/Barry.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017). The paper observes that, while previous conferences had considered artisanal mining, it was within the broader scope of small mining, and this conference was the “first” to consider specifically the problems of artisanal mining.

65 Id at 2.

66 Ibid.

67 Hilson “Farming”, above at note 62 at 550.

68 Perks “Digging into the past”, above at note 13 at 736.

69 MINIRENA “A revised Rwandan mining policy”, above at note 7 at 35.

70 Id at 24–25.

71 Perks “Digging into the past”, above at note 13 at 740–41.

72 Law No 13/2014, art 4(1).

73 Id, art 10.

74 Id, arts 17–22.

75 Id, art 5.

76 Id, art 6.

77 Nyamwasa, JD “Jump-starting the Rwandan cooperative movement” in Develtere, P, Pollet, I and Wanyama, F (eds) Cooperating Out of Poverty: The Renaissance of the African Cooperative Movement (2008, ILO) 281 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 282, available at: <http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/ent/coop/africa/download/coop_out_of_poverty.pdf> (last accessed 20 August 2017).

78 T Nishiuchi and R Perks “Unleashing the subsoil: Mining and its contribution to national development” (6th Rwanda Economic Update, World Bank, August 2014) at 25 and 32, available at: <http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/908721468307137337/pdf/901410NWP0Rwan0ug02402014000PUBLIC0.pdf> (last accessed 20 August 2017); RGMA “Strategic plan 2010–2013”, above at note 18 at 18.

79 Id at 15.

80 Id at 18.

81 Id at 44.

82 Grossman, GM “The theory of domestic content protection and content preference” (1981) 96/4 Quarterly Journal of Economics 583 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 583.

83 A Melo and A Rodríguez-Clare “Productive development policies and supporting institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean” (Inter-American Development Bank Research Department competitive studies series working paper C-106, February 2006) at 5, available at: <http://www.iadb.org/res/publications/pubfiles/pubc-106.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

84 GU Nwokeji “The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the development of the Nigerian oil and gas industry: History, strategies and current directions” (The James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy and Japan Petroleum Energy Center, Rice University, March 2007) at 44, available at: <http://bakerinstitute.org/media/files/page/9b067dc6/noc_nnpc_ugo.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

85 WTI Advisors “Local content requirements and the green economy” (paper presented at the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Domestic Requirements and Support Measures in Green Sectors: Economic and Environmental Effectiveness and Implications for Trade, 13–14 June 2013, Geneva) at 7, available at: <http://unctad.org/meetings/en/Contribution/DITC_TED_13062013_Study_WTI.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017); S Lec “The petroleum sector value chain” in S Tordo, BS Tracy and N Arfa (eds) “National oil companies and value creation” (World Bank working paper no 218, 2011) 1 at 8–9, available at: <http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTOGMC/Resources/9780821388310.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

86 S Tordo et al “Local content policies in the oil and gas sector” (World Bank study, 2013) at 120; Ado, R “Local content policy and the WTO Rules on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS): The pros and cons” (2013) 2/1 International Journal of Business and Management Studies 137 Google Scholar at 137–38; International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association “Local content strategy: A guidance document for the oil and gas industry” (2011) at 3, available at: <http://www.ipieca.org/publication/local-content-strategy-guidance-document-oil-and-gas-industry> (last accessed 13 July 2017).

87 DiCaprio, A and Gallagher, KP “The WTO and the shrinking of development space: How big is the bite” (2006) 75 The Journal of World Investment & Trade 781 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 783.

88 Ibid.

89 C Nwapi “A survey of the literature on local content policies in the oil and gas industry in east Africa” (School of Public Policy technical paper 9/16, April 2016) at 4, available at: <https:// www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/local-content-east-africa-nwapi.pdf> (last accessed 3 August 2017); Nwapi, C “Defining the ‘local’ in local content requirements in the oil and gas and mining sectors in developing countries” (2015) 8/1 Law & Development Review 193 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

90 For a detailed analysis of this, see Nwapi “Defining the ‘local’”, id at 193–96.

91 C Cimino, GC Hufbauer and JJ Schott “A proposed code to discipline local content requirements” (Peterson Institute for International Economics policy brief no PB14–6, February 2014) at 1, available at: <http://www.iie.com/publications/pb/pb14-6.pdf> (last accessed 13 July 2017); Nwapi “Defining the ‘local’”, id at 194.

92 Rodrik, D One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions and Economic Growth (2007, Princeton University Press)Google Scholar.

93 Lee, YS Reclaiming Development in the World Trading System (2nd ed, 2016, Cambridge University Press) at 462–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

94 Oguine, I “Nigerian content in the Nigerian petroleum industry: Legal and policy issues” (2011) 29 Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law 405 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 409.

95 RDB “Mining sector report”, above at note 1 at 34.

96 Ghana represents one such country. Ghana's Petroleum (Local Content and Participation) Regulations 2013, regs 17 and 18, enjoin companies to ensure that, in situations where Ghanaians are not employed due to lack of the requisite skills, every reasonable effort is made to train Ghanaians to perform jobs in that field and to submit a plan showing how a Ghanaian would be trained to take over that position from the non-Ghanaian occupying it.

97 See van Teeffelen “The EU raw material policy”, above at note 4 at 37.

98 RDB “Mining sector report”, above at note 1 at viii.