The authorities in Rwanda have committed to instilling confidence in the lucrative mining sector in order to attract more investments and spur the industry’s growth.

The East African nation has announced that all minerals exported from the country will be issued with a ‘conflict-free’ certificate by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to ascertain the minerals originate from the country’s own mines.

The decision comes only a few months after Rwanda adopted the mineral tagging and sealing scheme, internationally recognised as the iTSCi project, which aims to ensure that the origin of all minerals can be traced.

It also comes after a report by Global Business Reports, titled ‘Mining in Africa: Country Investment Guide 2014’, named Rwanda among the 20 most exciting mineral jurisdictions on the continent.

Rwanda, which has been accused by the international community of fuelling the conflict in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) so that it can exploit its minerals, believes that the issuing of the conflict-free certificates will inject confidence in the mining sector. More importantly, the certificates will open up markets for the country’s minerals by eliminating fears that it is exploiting DRC minerals.

“As a country, we are committed to developing our mining sector and that is why we are implementing all measures to instil confidence in the sector,” says, Natural Resources Minister Stanislas Kamazi.

Rwanda’s proximity to the DRC has been costly to the country’s efforts to develop its mining sector. Owing to the conflict in resource- rich DRC, the East African nation cannot freely trade its minerals without submitting to the tagging and traceability scheme.

While the country continues to adhere to the scheme, confidence in its minerals has been waning, particularly in its European and American markets, as a result of the DRC conflict dragging on.

Rwanda’s mineral exports have increased in recent years and the sector has emerged as the second- largest foreign exchange earner after tourism.

Since 1999, the sector has been expanding at a rate of at least 10% a year. The major minerals exported from Rwanda are stones like casseterite, coltan and wolframite.

The country is the world’s fourth-biggest producer of tantalum, a metal used in mobile phones and video-game consoles, accounting for about 12% of global production in 2012. Rwanda also produces tin, tungsten and gold. It ranks eighth in the world for unmelted tin production, which is about 1.5% of global production.

Last year, the sector raked in $190-million, an amount that is expected to double this year after the introduction of new taxes. “In June last year, the Rwanda government introduced a 4% royalty tax on the value of basic metals mined and a 6% levy on precious metals and gems.

The decision to issue conflict-free certificates is aimed at ensuring the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product increases to 5.2% by 2018 from the current 1.4%.

The ICGLR is an intergovernmental organisation established to promote sustainable peace and development in the Great Lakes region.

The organisation is composed of 12 member States, namely Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.