Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are the three countries that produce tin in Central Africa. This metal is popularly used in soldering electronic components. The Bisie mine in the DRC produces over 4% of the global production. Meanwhile, the country does not have a single processing plant.

Uganda will have its first tin refinery in May 2024. Led by Woodcross Resources, the project aligns with the government's goal to become a sub-regional hub for the processing of various mineral resources, including gold.

"We are preparing to launch our very first tin processing facility. They will refine tin to over 99% in terms of purity," said Irene Bateebe, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Mines, as reported by Reuters this week.

With an annual production capacity of 1,000 tonnes according to Woodcross's website, the plant is expected to be supplied with ore from a historic tin mine for which the company has obtained a mining license. To guarantee the refinery’s supply, at the beginning of this year, the Ugandan government banned the export of tin that did not have a purity level of at least 99.85% compared to the previous 67% to 70%.

The plant could also be used for processing ore from other countries in the sub-region, such as Rwanda and the DRC. The latter has no refinery, though it produced 4.5% of global tin production in 2023. All the output came from the Bisie mine, owned by Alphamin Resources. 

Despite not having industrial gold mines, Uganda has emerged in recent years as one of the largest exporters of ore in Central Africa. Kampala has encouraged the establishment of several gold refineries on its soil, which can be sourced from producers and traders across the region. In 2023, Uganda exported $2.3 billion worth of gold, more than double the revenues from coffee, once the top export commodity.

Emiliano Tossou