Faced with the outcry against its predatory incursions into the Democratic Republic of Congo, Paul Kagame’s regime is engaging in many contortions to save face. While condemnations of its latest military aggression against its huge neighbor are multiplying, accompanied by asphyxiating economic sanctions, Kigali is trying to get out of it thanks to media performances that question more than they reassure.
The latest of these gesticulations intended for the consumption of international opinion took place on March 19, 2025, one day after the publication of European sanctions targeting 9 Rwandan and Congolese personalities as well as a company with a storefront in Kigali. A very timely guided tour was organized for a few hand-picked foreign journalists invited to “discover” a mining sector in Rwanda as if out of a conjurer’s hat.
The Doumac mine, in eastern Rwanda, was visited by the group. Coltan ores and cassiterite containing Tantalum (Ta) and Tin (Sn), two of the so-called strategic ores with Tungsten (or wolfram, W) called 3 T are said to be extracted there. On the scene, an eager employee pointed with a hesitant index finger to a whitish mountain, declaring that it was a deposit of coltan and cassiterite whose ton was sold for between 3,500 and 5,500 USD in Rwandan counters.
From the explanations provided to the visitors, it emerged that an agent of the Rwandan government was there, “in charge of controlling the origin of the minerals thanks to the ITSKI label, the traceability mechanism for minerals in force in Rwanda, on which the global mining industry can rely to ensure that the minerals do not come from areas of armed conflict, in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo“.
Denying the looting
The media operation orchestrated by Rwanda on March 19 was in fact aimed to refute the documented accusations of illegal exploitation, looting and export of Congolese minerals made against Kagame‘s country by almost all international organizations. In particular, the latest United Nations experts report on the armed conflict in eastern DRC. “What the report says does not quite reflect reality. In Rwanda, we have enough minerals to extract and stamp without having to go and look for them elsewhere illegally,” explains a Rwandan official without seeming very convinced of it.
The Doumac mine, presented in this circumstance as the flagship of the Rwandan mining industry, produces 12 to 15 tons of coltan per month. This is the equivalent of 7 to 9% of exports of this mineral according to 2023 statistics. It is therefore necessary to explain the gap of more than 90% in exports attested by the mining services of Kagame‘s country themselves. But the official in charge of chaperoning the journalists does not let himself be discouraged by this and recites, as if mechanically, that “the minerals that leave Rwanda have tags that attest to their traceability. This is proof that they come from non-conflict areas. Now, to say that the minerals pass through Rwanda and through a corridor today, we, personally, cannot attest to it. That’s why I said we refute it“.
Dubious traceability
In principle, the traceability of the minerals exported by Rwanda thus touted applies to the monitoring of the stages travelled by the ore, from the mine shaft to the ‘’end user’’. While certification refers to the action of certifying the origin, quality, and compliance with the various standards of the product. In practice, in Rwanda, the ore is equipped with a tag with a barcode, from the mine shaft to the border, and accompanied by a document (certificate) in triplicate, intended for ITRI and the Rwandan Ministries of Mines and Finance. Rwanda buys the labels from ITRI and has hired about 70 inspectors to monitor the various stages of the procedure.
But a recent report by the UN Panel of Experts on Congo has formally confirmed a fact that some have long suspected: Rwanda and ITRI were certifying minerals illegally imported from the DRC. After the NGO Global Witness revealed, in its report published in 2022, that the certification mechanism implemented in Rwanda (ITSCI) «facilitates the laundering of smuggled minerals from mines controlled by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo». And, above all, that «90% of all the coltan, tin and tungsten ores exported by Kigali were illegally introduced from the Democratic Republic of Congo».
In recent years, Rwanda has embarked on a vast operation to transform minerals by multiplying the creation of local industries. In addition to the Doumac mine, visited on March 19, 2025 by a group of journalists, we can mention in particular, LuNA Smelter, a plant for processing cassiterite into tin. In its huge hangars in Kigali, the plant, capable of producing up to 360 tons of tin per month, was operating at only 30% of its installed capacity in November 2024. Questioned by Contrepoint’s reporters, an attendant admitted to facing serious supply problems. «We are already negotiating with neighboring countries to further secure raw materials, including cassiterite», he said in tempore non suspecto.
Supply problems
Even Gasabo Gold Refinery, the mining company hit by the European Union’s sanctions of March 18, 2025, which prides itself on refining gold to 99.99% purity, was facing the same difficulties. “We produce high-quality refined gold, but the volume we process is still below our capacity,” said an engineer at the refinery. The situation is similar in Bugesera, where a new coltan refinery, designed to separate tantalum from niobium, is under construction. Once operational, it should allow Rwanda to capture additional added value by processing these minerals on site before exporting them. But this project, like others, faces significant obstacles, including challenges related to the supply of raw materials.
Still, mining exports brought in USD 1.1 billion in 2023, an increase of 43% compared to the previous year, making the country’s notoriously devoid of significant mineral resources the largest contributor to the USD 3.5 billion generated by all exports.
Predatory Expedition
Since 2021, the Rwandan army has once again embarked on a predatory expedition on the territory of its wealthy Congolese neighbor, occupying vast swathes of land rich in critical minerals, among other things. In July 2024, a report by UN experts reported the presence of «3,000 to 4,000 soldiers from the Rwandan government forces fighting alongside the M23 rebels against the Congolese army, with officers of the Rwanda Defense Forces having ‘de facto’ taken control and direction of the rebellion’s operations». Other sources in the region estimate that the number of Rwandan soldiers operating in the DRC is currently close to 10,000.
In May 2024, Rwandan troops and their M23 auxiliaries took possession of the mines in Rubaya, 60 kilometers from the city of Goma. They provide them with some 800,000 USD/month, according to the above-mentioned report by UN experts. In the wake of the military conquests, the layout of which perfectly matches the mining cartography of the conquered regions, the Rwandans and the Congolese renegades who have joined them have consolidated their hold on the gold mining areas of Musigha (Lubero), the pyrochlore mine of Lueshe (Rutshuru) and, a few days ago, the Tin mine and the huge deposits of coltan and cassiterite of Walikale. as well as the Tourmaline, Coltan, Gold and Cassiterite rich mine of Lumbishi (Kalehe).
This mapping alone sheds light on the real motivations of the war that President Paul Kagame and his army are waging in Congo. This does not prevent the Rwandan dictator from multiplying justifications, each as absurd as the other, to legitimize the presence of his army on the territory of his Congolese neighbor. This is the case with the media operation implemented to present to the world the mineral resources specific to his country, which appears to be a pathetic attempt to exonerate himself from accusations of looting Congolese minerals.
Ultimately, the question we are entitled to ask ourselves is the following: if Rwanda has the minerals it needs for its economy and if it is not a matter of plundering mineral resources, what the hell are RDF troops doing in Rubaya, Musigha, Lueshe, Lumbishi and Walikale in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
Jacques Ntshula
(Editorial director of the periodical Le Maximum, Kinshasa)