Women Empowerment And Transformation In Mining: A Distinctive Perspective

GMDC is a mining company that specializes in tungsten (wolfram) and operates in the city of Kigali, Nyarugenge District, Mageragere Sector.

- KAMUGWERA VESTINE,

MANAGING DIRECTOR, GENERATION MINING DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (GMDC)

I was only 21 when I started this profession, more than 20 years ago. At that time, I was part of a cooperative called CODEMIBU, which was established in 1995. In 2014, the cooperative was dissolved and transformed into a mining company, now known as GMDC.

When we started, we had just 20 staff members and we used artisanal mining methods. We could produce around 600kg of tungsten per month. But we had a vision to grow and prosper, inspired by our president who encouraged women to be bold and ambitious. I was one of the women who took the first step to invest in the mining industry and to ensure that mining is done professionally and in line with our country's vision.

We have implemented various strategies and measures to continuously develop our mining profession. We have increased the number of staff to 450, out of whom 50 are women. We aim to increase the women's participation to at least 30%. We have also increased our production to more than 10 tons per month, making us one of the top three best-producing companies in terms of wolfram production at the national level.