•President Paul Kagame of Rwanda
Rwanda said today it had made its first oil discovery, with confirmation of 13 reservoirs in Lake Kivu, which makes up part of its border with DR Congo.
“The good news is that we have oil,” Francis Kamanzi, CEO of the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, told a parliamentary hearing according to local media group Igihe.
Kamanzi said 13 exploratory wells in Lake Kivu had confirmed the presence of oil, reports AFP.
There was “confidence” of finding more, he added, given the significant reserves found across the Great Lakes region by neighbours Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda has been carrying out tests and exploratory digs in Lake Kivu for more than a decade.
Rwanda and DRC have continued to hold discussions on exploration despite the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC.
Rwanda-backed armed forces known as the March 23 Movement (M23) have seized swathes of territory and mining operations there, triggering a humanitarian crisis.
