Thirteen underground sites with indications of oil have been identified beneath Rwanda’s Lake Kivu.
Francis Kamanzi, the Director-General of Rwanda’s Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, informed members of parliament that relevant authorities are preparing to assess these findings through exploration and to determine the quantity of oil present.
For years, there have been speculations about oil deposits under Lake Kivu, but concrete confirmation was lacking.
The suspicion was fueled by the presence of methane gas in the lake, as areas rich in methane often also contain oil.
Additionally, discoveries of oil in Uganda’s Lake Albert and the shared geological features of the Rift Valley, which encompasses Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika, reinforced these expectations.
If Rwanda successfully confirms and extracts oil, it could transform the country’s economy, propelling it from poverty to sustainable economic growth and improving the livelihoods of its citizens.
The transformative power of oil can be seen in countries like Qatar. According to reports, before oil was discovered in Qatar in 1939, the country was among the poorest in the world, relying mainly on pearl trading, fishing, and small-scale commerce.
However, the commercialization of oil in 1949 reversed this narrative.
By 2020, Qatar ranked among the top 18 oil-exporting nations globally, generating over $6.14 billion annually. Key buyers included Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States.
With an average income of $61,276 per person annually, Qatar’s oil industry has significantly improved the standard of living for its citizens.
Oil has similarly transformed the economies of other nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Libya during the era of Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
If Rwanda joins South Sudan and Uganda as the third East African Community member state to discover oil, it could usher in a new era of prosperity and development for the nation.