Rwanda becomes Africa host nation to one of world’s largest coltan exporters headquarters, making it the first Africa’s coltan refinery at a cost of over $20 million.

The plant is located in Bugesera Industrial Park and was built by a mining investment company called the Power Resources International Ltd, a British-based mining company that operates mainly in the Ngororero District in the areas of Muriro and Rukaragata.

An agreement between the Power Resources International Ltd and the Rwandan Government was signed in 2018 for the construction of a Coltan processing factory to add value to it before being placed on the international market.

The plant with a cost of over 20 million US dollars has been completed although under a pilot phase before official inauguration and will have a 120 tonnes processing capacity of Coltan per month.

As said by the CEO of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), Amb Yamina Karitanyi, the Coltan processing plant joins other facilities including gold and cassiterite refineries, and added that the Coltan processing plant will be inaugurated in the near future.

Also, the Deputy CEO of RMB, Dr. Ivan Twagirashema disclosed that the factory will benefit the entire region which produces more than 70% of the Coltan needed globally.

He added that with Rwanda’s large amount of Coltan there should be no fret of running short of supply as the plant can also process minerals from other countries.

According to a report in 2020 from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), it indicated that Rwanda generated over 1.4 billion US dollars from minerals exported between 2015 to 2019.