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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]
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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
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Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2017 

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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).

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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).

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

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

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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).

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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.

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

60 Id at 1027.

61 Id at 1040.

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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.

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79 Id at 15.

80 Id at 18.

81 Id at 44.

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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.

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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.