The future of Kenya’s mining industry

The East African region is endowed with a variety of minerals that have the potential to catalyse faster economic growth for individual member states. The bloc in general is rich in fluorspar, titanium and zirconium, gold, oil, gas, cobalt and nickel, diamonds, copper, coal, iron ore, among other minerals. While the DR Congo and Tanzania are considered to be the richest in mineral deposits in the region, almost every country has its own which has a commercial potential. Kenya has numerous ores and industrial minerals which are believed to be in substantial quantities. These minerals include soda ash, fluorspar, titanium, niobium and rare earth elements, gold, coal, iron ore, limestone, manganese, diatomite, gemstones, gypsum and natural carbon dioxide. While investors have been mining in some of the minerals in large scale, with artisanal miners sinking tunnels in small scale capacity, the country is yet to fully exploit the minerals leaving communities languishing in poverty. The sector which is estimated to have the potential to contribute up to 11 per cent of Kenya’s GDP has been contributing a meager one per cent. In 2019, the government placed a moratorium on the issuance of prospecting licenses to investors in what would define