By Eric Gaborone, 31 January, 2025- Even President Kagame Admits It—So Why the Silence . There’s an old saying: where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
The U.N held a special session and called upon the Rwandan President Paul Kagame to withdraw his troops from Congo with immediate effect but Kagame still denies his army involvement in the conflict even after several foreign and international organizations claim that Rwanda is complicit in the conflict.
13 South African soldiers were allegedly killed by the M23 which agitated the South African President Cyil Ramaphosa to send a warning shot to Kagame of dire consequences because this act was a declaration of War and Kagame dared him, baby bring it on.
But in Rwanda’s case, where there’s gold, there’s a well-oiled, government-approved smuggling network operating in plain sight. And for once, President Paul Kagame—often the master of controlled narratives—slipped up in a rare moment of candor, admitting in a TV interview that illegal minerals transit through Rwanda.
Well, congratulations, Your Excellency, for confirming what every investigative journalist, human rights activist, and international watchdog has been screaming for years: Rwanda has become the Panama of the Great Lakes Region—a tax haven for conflict minerals, a logistics hub for illicit gold, and a country whose economic miracle seems to have more to do with smuggling than Silicon Valley-inspired innovation.
The Golden Goose or the Smuggler’s Paradise? Rwanda’s official gold production is, at best, modest. Its mines are small-scale, and its reserves are nothing compared to the mineral-rich lands of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Yet, according to the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC, Rwanda is miraculously exporting five to ten times more gold than it produces. How is that possible? Simple: illegal minerals from the conflict zones of eastern DRC are laundered through Rwanda’s refineries, given a legitimate stamp, and then sold to international markets.
In a world where money talks, Rwanda has learned the art of whispering. The country has positioned itself as a beacon of progress, a tech-friendly utopia, a corruption-free haven for investors. But while the international community claps for Kigali’s “development model,” the reality is that this economic success has been heavily subsidized by smuggled minerals. Paul Kagame’s ‘Oops’ Moment For years, the Rwandan government has dismissed allegations of involvement in illicit mineral trade as nothing but Western propaganda and Congolese sour grapes. But then, in a televised interview, Kagame himself casually admitted that illegal minerals do, in fact, pass through Rwanda. That’s like a bank CEO confessing that yes, drug cartels do use their institution to launder money—but hey, what can you do? Of course, Kagame quickly pivoted, insisting that Rwanda is merely a transit country, not a beneficiary.
That’s an interesting spin. If someone steals a car in your neighborhood, parks it in your garage, and you “accidentally” sell it for profit, guess what? You’re an accomplice. But Rwanda doesn’t just park stolen minerals—it upgrades, polishes, and sells them with a clean conscience.
The ‘Panama’ of the Great Lakes: How the Scheme Works Rwanda’s role in the illicit mineral trade operates like a well-run offshore tax haven. Here’s the basic blueprint:
- Blood Gold from DRC – Gold is mined from war-torn regions of eastern Congo, often by militias and armed groups who use it to fund their violence.
- Smuggling Networks – The minerals are smuggled across the border into Rwanda, often with the complicity of security forces on both sides.
- Refinery Laundering – Once in Rwanda, the gold is refined and rebranded as “Rwandan gold.” The country’s growing refinery sector has created a perfect front for laundering illegal minerals.
- Legit Market Access – With an official label, the gold is sold to international markets, often ending up in Dubai, Switzerland, or the U.S., where buyers conveniently look the other way. And here’s the punchline: Rwanda has no significant gold deposits, yet it ranks as one of Africa’s largest gold exporters. The absurdity would be comedic if it weren’t financing a humanitarian disaster next door.
All That Glitters is Not Gold—It’s War While Rwanda Cashes in, eastern Congo burns. The illicit mineral trade is not just an economic crime; it’s a war crime. It fuels conflicts that have killed millions. Every ounce of gold smuggled through Kigali is an ounce of blood money, financing armed groups who terrorize civilians. Yet, the world remains conveniently silent. Why? Because Kagame has played his cards well.
He is the West’s darling, a man who delivers stability, a leader who knows how to charm investors and guilt-trip former colonial powers into silence. His country has been painted as a success story, an African miracle. But beneath the surface, that success is built on an economic model suspiciously similar to organized crime: iGintsa in township lingo.
To Conclude: The World’s Complicity Rwanda’s role in the Great Lakes’ mineral smuggling trade is not a conspiracy theory—it’s an open secret. Even Kagame can’t deny it anymore. But the real scandal is not that Rwanda is doing this—it’s that the world lets it happen. Western countries, which claim to champion human rights, happily import “clean” Rwandan gold. Multinational corporations, desperate for raw materials, never ask too many questions.
The same Western governments that sanction militia leaders in the DRC throw economic deals at Kigali. So, is Rwanda the Panama of the Great Lakes? Absolutely. But this isn’t just Kagame’s hustle—it’s a global operation where powerful interests benefit from turning a blind eye. And as long as the world keeps pretending, the gold will keep flowing, and the bloodshed will continue