Author: IGIHE

Rwanda was selected on Monday, December 17, 2018, during the official closing ceremony for the First IATF 2018.

Former President of Nigeria and Chairman of the IATF Advisory Council H.E Chief Olusegun Obasanjo announced the city of Kigali, Rwanda as the next hosts of the IATF 2020.

Rwanda is selected to host this trade fair following President Kagame’s visit to Egypt on 8-9 December 2018, when he attended “Africa 2018 Forum”, which aimed at economic integration and increasing investment on the continent.

During his visit, president Kagame held discussions with Afreximbank President, Prof Benedict Okey Oramah, and supported the idea of launching this trade fair and emphasized Rwanda’s plan to host it.

Intra-African Trade Fair is the first of its kind in Africa, consisting of a 7-day trade fair that provides a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information and enabling buyers and sellers, investors and countries to meet, discuss and conclude business deals.

Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi, said they were pleased to welcome African fellows to the trade fair to be hosted by Rwanda.

Sheikh Saleh Habimana, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Egypt, said that after Rwanda was selected to host the fair, it has been requested to do everything possible to make it better than the one in Egypt.

“We have been requested to host it successfully, in such a good environment that we will not go below the square established by Egypt but do better,” he said.

Albert Muchanga, the AU Commissioner of Trade and Industry, told the participants that Rwanda is happy to host the trade fair because it already has an inclusive politics.

“In Rwanda, every person is offered a visa at the airport. That means many people are going to come, Africa’s products will also be a lot more because Africa’s free trade area will be in place,” he said.

In the trade fair, which started on December 11th, Rwanda was able to discuss and negotiate with Egyptian traders how to bring their industries to Rwanda, and others, their products.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Soraya Hakuziyareya and the Director of Activities at RDB Emmanuel Hategeka who flanked the president exchanged with various entrepreneurs and encouraged them to invest in Rwanda’s market.

Chief Obasanjo encouraged Africans to change their culture of belief and to believe in Africa and what Africa can achieve, stating, there will be challenges, but while standing at a crossroads “we have identified the right road in order to grow African economies, actualize potential and fulfill our destiny.”

He said Africa must work together to swim together in progress, prosperity, and security.

“There is no pride in poverty; only strength, respect and pride in economic power and development,” he said.

He applauded the IATF as an invaluable event that has delivered what was expected; the establishment of relationships and networks that will drive Africa’s trade industry.

Intra-African trade is low at 15%, while the trade between Africa and Europe is at 59%, Africa and Asia at 51%, while the trade between Africa and North America is at 37%.

The common market will connect over 1.2 billion people in Africa, and 55 countries that have GDP worth US$2.5 trillion.

The revelations were made by the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana as he spoke at the 16th national dialogue (Umushyikirano 16) as he discussed a panel topic entitled “Remembering history by preserving our values.”

Dr. Bizimana commended the United Nations, the African Union and some American and European countries for having recognized the 1994 Genocide and that some countries made laws punishing the denial, minimization and having started to bring genocide suspects before their justice

“However,” he said, “some countries still go slow in this journey to justice on the 1994 genocide as some others support the deniers, while others refuse to arrest the suspects so that they can be brought to justice.

“Despite the good step some countries have made in making laws punishing the denial of the genocide, there are countries which act slowly in pursuing the suspects living there, Dr. Bizimana said.

“Rwanda’s prosecution has sent over 900 arrest warrants abroad for people suspected of a role in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi but only 19 were sent back to Rwanda while those tried before those countries’ judiciaries are 23,” he said.

Among those who were sent back to Rwanda are Wenceslas Twagirayezu with Emmanuel Mbarushima who were sent by Denmark with the latter having sentenced to life imprisonment.

Bizimana urged foreign countries hosting suspects of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi to bring them before justice or send them back to Rwanda.

The CNLG Executive Secretary also said that the fight against genocide has got a lot challenges including parents who still sow the genocide ideology among their children.

The mining site is owned by PIRAN Resources Limited, a South African mining company operating in Rwanda.

The 2018 African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA)’has brought together about 120 participants from across the world including government officials, private sector representatives, NGOs, international organizations such the World Bank, the African Union Commission, Academics, and 61 advanced law students and legal professionals from 23 African universities and 19 African countries.

Held at Kigali Serena Hotel, the ten-day workshop is discussing issues around the sustainable development of Africa’s mining sector.

On Sunday, law students at the workshop and other participants drove to Rwamagana District and were shown how mining business is done in PIRAN Resources Limited, how employees’ rights and how laws governing the mining industry are respected in the Company.

PIRAN Resources Limited was founded in 1935 by Belgians but it was bought by the South African business people after Rwanda got independence from Belgium. Now it has 1200 employees of whom 900 are in cooperatives.

The mining site of PIRAN Resources Ltd in Mwurire is rich in cassiterite, tantalum and wolframite while there is Coltan in Ntunga Mineral site also owned by Piran Resources Limited. It produces over 20T of mines per month.

The Exploration Geologist at Piran Resources Limited, Justin Uwiringiyimana said: “In this company, we have got so many employees and we strive to enhance their protection as required in the mining law. But also, we strive to respect employment contracts on salary, life insurance and other requirements as required by the law.”

“Before, we used to extract mines illegally but we have now set the line of operations in respect of the law. We started by doing traditional mining but we have now started using modern technology as we use modern machines in extracting,” Uwiringiyimana added.

The African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) is a program initiated by the World Bank in 2013. It occurs on a yearly basis with the help of an African University- which was the University of Kigali this year, and implemented in partnership with the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC) ), and several African law faculties.

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The Akagera is a popular destination for game drives with a large population of Giraffe, buffalo and elephants. Other activities include boat rides on the Akagera river.

The trip is organized by Global Link Safaris, a tour and travel agency in Rwanda. It will take place on Saturday, December 22, 2018.

Visitors will be given the opportunity to have their pictures taken by a professional photographer and their photos will be given to them free of charge.

Philippe Ngendaneza, a marketing officer for Global Link Safaris said that at the end of the year, families need to meet and express love, especially spouses.

“These are good days when we end the year. There are many weddings, those are days of happiness, and that is why we want to help them and build love amongst the newlyweds and take them to Akagera Park,” he said.

He added that apart from couples, other Rwandans or foreigners are also invited to enjoy the drive.

For traveling with Global Link Safaris, one person pays Ref35,000, one couple pays Rwf45,000 and foreigners from outside East Africa, $110.

Included in the price is a ticket, permission to enter the park, dinner, and guides, among others.

Tickets are being sold at the Global Link Safaris office at Kacyiru under Librairie Ikirezi.

The workshop brings together 120 participants from across the world including government officials, private sector representatives, NGOs, international organizations such the World Bank, the African Union Commission, Academics, and 61 advanced law students and legal professionals from 23 African universities and 19 African countries.

It is hosted by the University of Kigali and organized African Legal Support Facility (ALSF).

Mining disputes come about and get difficult to resolve due to diverse players involved in the industry. The disputes involve socio-economic-political environment conflicts.
According to the Secretary General of Kigali International Arbitration Centre, Dr. Joseph Fidele Masengo who took participants in the workshop, to a presentation on “Arbitration in Mining Industry”, on the 7th day of the AMLA 2018, mining disputes can be contractual, trade venture, investment, expropriation and labour employment disputes though the latest are not frequent.

Contracts that can bear disputes in mining as they bring in the government officials in charge of making policies and laws governing the industry, the population who can be affected by environmental impacts, employees of the extracting companies, banks financing the extracting projects, insurance companies coming in case of disasters and other stakeholders according to Dr. Masengo.

Masengo said that in case of mining disputes, people choose arbitration as the suitable way to resolve them because “using the normal judges is not the right way.”

He said that this is due to the confidentiality, flexibility (mutual understanding), quickness in disputes resolution compared to time taken in normal courts, and the easy implementation of decisions made by arbitrators.

Masengo also explained that most arbitrators are specialized in diverse sectors, which gives them ability to understand and deal adequately with disputes related with those sectors. There can be arbitrators specialized in engineering, construction, economy among other sectors.

Dr. Masengo revealed that since its foundation six years ago, Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC) has now trained 500 arbitrators and it has resolved 97 mining disputes worth $50 million.

“Rwanda does not receive a lot of mining disputes compared to countries with so much mineral resources in their lands,” Dr. Masengo said adding that “Mining disputes are usually due to contracts.”

“At KIAC, mining disputes come sixth as the sector with many disputes resolved at our centre and as time goes, we do receive disputes from the region and those inside Rwanda,”Dr Masengo revealed.

The Head of Law Department at the University of Kigali, Idi Gaparayi said that arbitration is preferred in resolving mining disputes due to high presence of foreign investors in local mining industries who don’t much trust laws governing businesses in host countries.

“Contracts in mining industry usually involve foreign investors who sometimes don’t trust laws in countries where they operate from. They then choose arbitration in resolving mining disputes in case they take place. You will find foreign investors in mining having more trust in arbitration that the normal courts and laws,” Dr. Gaparayi said.

The 2018 African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) was held at Kigali Serena Hotel and implemented by the University of Kigali, the ALSF, the World Bank’s Legal vice Presidency, the Extractive Industries Technical Assistance Facilities (EI-TAF), the African Union Commission (AUC) ), and several African law faculties.

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The suspects were caught red-handed in separate operations conducted in the cells of Cyivugiza and Shengampure.

Police spokesperson in the Northern Province, CIP Alex Gahigana, said that police had been earlier tipped about this act by residents that people were mining illegally in various quarries in Masoro.

The quarries are owned by Masoro mining company.

Gahigana said that: “Based on that credible information from the residents, targeted operations were conducted on the night of December 15, in various quarries in Masoro where the 14 people were arrested.”

He added that it is an illegal act, but it is also dangerous to enter into a quarry at night.

He said they had previously seen cases where illegal mining activities at night have resulted into loss of lives,” the spokesperson said.

He noted that such disasters and loss of lives sometimes result from tampering with weak cliffs or lack of knowledge on the status of the quarry.

“Such illegal mining activities have also affected two rivers Rusine and Sanzare,” he noted.

He explained that illegal miners, usually do not have any protection gear leaving them exposed to likely dangers because they may be hit by objects or breathe dangerous gases.

He thanked Rulindo residents for their enhanced participation and information sharing in fighting illegal mining activities.

Meanwhile, last October five men were also arrested in Shyorongi Sector, Rulindo District after they were found involved in illegal mining activities.

The insurance coverage of miners and the necessary access to bank credit for investors in the sector to build strong and well-supported scaffolds and avoid as much as possible mine accidents are among the issues being discussed upon during the ongoing AMLA workshop where a series of legal recommendations will be made.

“From November 2017 to November 2018, there were 140 accidents in the Rwandan mines, 80 of which were fatal,” said John Kanyangero, Director of Mining Inspection Unit, Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RBM).

He expressed his disappointment that insurance companies are slow to explore and implementing risk insurance coverage products in Rwanda’s mines.

“At the end of my degree in law, I am going to specialize in mining law, which is lacking in Rwanda. This Rwandan mining sector is not sufficiently regulated in terms of laws in Rwanda.” said Elie Nshimiyimana, Law Lecturer at the University of Rwanda who is participating in the proceedings of this seminar.

Leonidas Simpenzwe, geologist-researcher near Rutongo Mine Ltd, in his communication to the assembly, insisted on the need to see Rwanda get a lot of experienced mining researchers and geologists but also the importance for any company entering the sector to invest sufficient capital to allow better prospecting and mining conditions and, hence, high productivity.

The ten-day work of this symposium on mining and geology is organized and funded by AMLA 2018 | African Mining Legislation Atlas. They will be crowned by a Basic Handbook-Document outlining development strategies for the African mining sector.

The AMLA Project is one of the flagship projects of the ALSF implemented with different partners including the World Bank’s Legal vice Presidency, the Extractive Industries Technical Assistance Facilities (EI-TAF), the African Union Commission (AUC) ), and several African law faculties.

The ALSF helps African governments to strengthen their legal expertise and negotiating capacities, particularly in the areas of natural resources and extractive industries, investment agreements and public-private partnerships including large-scale infrastructure projects and other-related complex commercials and business transactions.

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Among other things, the beneficiaries say that they left the darkness and problems they used to have as a result of lack of electricity.

The head of REG branch in Rutsiro District Eng. Dominique Bakenerinzungu said that since last year, the goal was to provide electricity to 2000 households within at least one year, but they exceeded expectations and won an award.

In 2017-2018, REG aimed at providing 2100 households with electricity, exceeded them to 5236. The first five months of the year ended with 2821 households having received electricity.

“There has been prosperity and well-being. Health centres that didn’t have electricity were challenged by not being able to keep drugs, but now it has been resolved,” Eng. Bakenerinzungu said.

He also explained that the new Rutsiro District office and hotel have been given electricity, and residents have begun tapping it.

When IGIHE visited the beneficiaries, they said that their lives have been transformed and some have started tapping it, doing business that did would not have been possible before they were given electricity.

Alexis Barisemera of Gihango Sector said: “We used to live in the dark before and lit with burning firewood, but now we press the switch on the wall to get light.”

“It took us a two-hour walk to places where we got electricity before to charge our mobile phones, but since the president gave us electricity, we have been happy,” he said.

REG branch in Rutsiro District with 75,790 households announces that 31.9% of households have electricity. The goal is that by 2024, all households will have electricity.