The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) today convened the inaugural ‘Energy and Mining CEOs Forum’ in Kigali.

Held under the theme ‘Energy and mining – Key drivers of the National Strategy for Transformation’, the forum brought together business leaders in the mining and energy sectors in Rwanda, representatives from Rwanda Development Board, Ministry of Infrastructure, Rwanda Energy Group, Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board as well as the Private Sector Federation, to discuss business opportunities and challenges energy and mining companies encounter when operating businesses in Rwanda.

In his opening remarks to the business executives present, Emmanuel Hategeka, the RDB Deputy Chief Executive Officer said:

“Our interaction today is an indication of the high value we place on your role as players of the private sector. Our records show the significant contribution that the two sectors have made over the last couple of years. The last 3 years alone, a 17% growth in investments was registered, growing from US$ 816 million to US$954 million split evenly between the sectors ($463 million and Energy $ 491). However, we can improve on this with all the available investment opportunities along the value chain. The sectors contributed only 7% of the total investment value in 2018,” he noted.

The Guest of Honor, the Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. Amb. Claver Gatete presided over the signing of Concession and Power Purchasing Agreements between the Government of Rwanda and Symbion Power Lake Kivu Limited during the forum.

Under the agreements, Symbion Power will invest up to US$ 200 million for the establishment of a 56 mega Watt (MW) plant on the shores of Lake Kivu.

“Rwanda plans to achieve 512MW installed power generation capacity by 2024 and in essence achieve universal access from the current 218MW. We cannot achieve this target without investors like Symbion in the private sector,” Amb. Gatete said.

The minister also acknowledged the fact that the mining industry is still largely made up of artisanal/small scale firms which needed to change to a more sustainable and attractive one, able to attract investors and increase value added products.